


A Series of Random Fairy Tail AUs

by Tenryu_no_Hoko



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Crack, Crack Relationships, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:42:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21793195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenryu_no_Hoko/pseuds/Tenryu_no_Hoko
Summary: A collection of half-baked story ideas, deleted chapters, one-shots, and various other Fairy Tail AU-related content. Mostly Romeo-centric.
Relationships: Chelia Blendy/Romeo Conbolt, Chelia Blendy/Romeo Conbolt/Wendy Marvell, Romeo Conbolt & Wakaba Mine's Daughter, Romeo Conbolt/Beth Vanderwood, Romeo Conbolt/Coco, Romeo Conbolt/Hisui E. Fiore, Romeo Conbolt/Katja, Romeo Conbolt/Wendy Marvell
Kudos: 6





	1. Snapshots

**Author's Note:**

> (Posted 12/27/19, yeeting ever closer to the end of the decade)  
> Hello and welcome to Tales of the Romeoverse!  
> This already had a chapter one, but I realized that since that chapter is actually for its own separate story, when I remove that chapter to make a new story, this story would no longer exist. The original chapter one, that being the first chapter for Time Comes Around, is now chapter two.
> 
> Because this story is basically me testing out ideas for other stories. Throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what sticks, you know? Seeing if I enjoy writing these stories, and seeing if you enjoy reading them. If I like writing a story enough and if it gets a lot of support from you all, then it'll likely become its own story. So please be sure to favorite, follow, and especially review, since feedback is the main thing I'm looking for in this endeavor.
> 
> Shoutout to chaosphoenix123. It's his Romeo's Life story that inspired this idea, so please go check out that and the rest of his stories when you're done with this one.

**Time Traveler**

Between being trapped in the past, getting arrested for arson, getting arrested by the Magic Council for Time Travelling, then getting arrested by the Fiorian Royal Guard for getting arrested by the Magic Council, today was a bit of an off day for Romeo. Oh well, he thought, at least the princess looks pretty cute now that they're the same age.

**Knight**

Kagura was one hell of a teacher. Even with just a wooden sword, she could still beat the shit out of him. Still, he can't deny that he's the one who chose this path. Sworn to the sword and shield bestowed upon him by Azure and Scarlet, he would follow in his hero's footsteps. Plus spending time with a certain farm girl wasn't bad, and a certain dragon slayer was always there to heal him as well.

**Rock Star**

Romeo loved performing: getting amped up with the crowd as he shreds his guitar; listening to his girl sing with that sweet, sweet voice of hers; and just the pure electricity that crackles through his veins whenever he steps on stage. But your dead friends coming back to life kinda puts a damper on your concert.

**Dragon**

Now that he was mute, he found himself with so many things he wanted to say: _"I love you,"_ to his girlfriend; _"Welcome back,"_ to everyone who disappeared on Tenrou; and _"Goodbye"_ to the family that Ignia had slaughtered just to prove a point to the boy. But most of all, what he wanted to say right now was, _"No, Cana! I don't have any 'dragon parts'_ _down there! Stop teasing Katja about that!"_

**Fae**

Romeo didn't always feel like themself. Whenever they looked in the mirror, they always felt like it was someone else's dark purple eyes staring back at them. Luckily, a good walk through the forest with their equally nature-loving girlfriend would always bring them back to reality. They just had to make sure to avoid that pesky ring of mushrooms.

**Demon**

The seven voices in his head grew louder and louder with each passing minute. He could feel each of them breathing down his neck as though they were really there, in the outside world and not trapped within his body. Their claws scratched away at his mind, trying to tear it apart his resolve. But he refused to cave to their demands; he refused to give them any fucking chocolate milk.

**Determined**

Romeo had known for a long time that Fairy Tail wasn't what it once was. Like it or not, there was no way for him to fix that. But he still got out of bed every morning to train for the upcoming GMG. He still had a long road ahead of him, but with his friends by his side, he'd walk it no problem.

**God**

Light and Darkness shifted and squirmed through Romeo's body in an uncomfortable manner. Their powers were far too much for one person to handle, but he supposed that's why he wasn't _just **one** person _anymore. Many people, including his girlfriends, were counting on him to pull it together. But he can't. _They_ can't. Everyone wanted him to be a god; Romeo was afraid that he already was.

**Traveler**

There was just something about the endless void of space that Romeo found so... _relaxing_. Sure, he enjoyed venturing off to new planets and helping people of other worlds, but sometimes it was enough to just lay back and navigate the eternal black seas, cruising along within his ship.

**Lorekeeper**

Journeying through the vast multiverse was hardly a lonesome life. You get to go so many places and meet so many people, and it can even be a great way to _'find yourself!'_ Other versions of yourself, that is. For instance, you might meet a version of you with Phoenix Magic, or one whose arm is made out of flames! I suggest you keep a journal of your travels though. You won't want to forget a second of it... plus it'll make for a great story!

**$∃η+1ε៷∤**

_"Uryyb. Jul vg vf fb irel, irel avpr gb frr lbh ntnva. Qb lbh erzrzore zr? Vg jbhyq znxr frafr vs lbh qvqa'g. Bhe gvzr gbtrgure jnf phg bu fb fubeg. Ohg qba'g jbeel, V'z fher jr'yy unir n tenaq gvzr guvf gvzr nebhaq. Jr'yy rira unir n ovt cnegl gb pryroengr! Fbzr thrfgf znl abg fheivir, ohg jub pnerf? Ragregnvazrag vf gur ernfba lbh'er urer, nsgre nyy."_


	2. Legend of the Chroma Knight Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Legend of the Chroma Knight
> 
> Description: Legends speak of a Great Shadow that had once fallen across all of Earthland, covering the world in a never-ending darkness. Only the sword and shield of the great Heroes were able to cut through this shadow, bringing Light and Color to the land once again. But now, many centuries later, the Shadow threatens to return, and the one who holds that sword and shield is none other than... a teenage boy...? (Heavily inspired by Pokémon Sword and Shield)
> 
> Pairing(s): RomeoXBeth, possible RomeoXBethXWendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Posted 12/27/2019)
> 
> Hello! And welcome to my new story, Legend of the Chroma Knight! 
> 
> It's a what-if type AU where instead of looking up to Natsu, Romeo looked up to Erza instead, and instead of mastering the flame while Tenrou was gone, he mastered the blade.
> 
> Big thanks to chaosphoenix123 for basically beta-ing this chapter. After you finish reading this I highly suggest you go check out his stuff.
> 
> And without any further adu, I hope you enjoy!

Lost. Scared. Alone.

Imprisoned in a world of gray.

These emotions rolled in towards the young Romeo Conbolt in much the same way that the fog rolled through the forest, clouding his vision and making it impossible to see the light. Lost in every sense of the word, the six year old tried to make his way back to safety, but to no avail.

A freezing wind from the cold December night chilled him to the bone. His breath transformed into and was absorbed by the fog in front of his face. It was times like these when he wished he had learned at least a little of his old man's fire magic, but of course, he just had to stay loyal to his idol:

A hero to the people, the guardian of everyone's hopes and dreams, the slayer of evil, the one who had saved his father's life. How could he possibly not look up to the greatest member of Fairy Tail?

How could he possibly not look up to Erza Scarlet?

Another shiver ran through him, but this time not from the cold. He remembered the horrible news that had led him to this forest just this evening;

* * *

_The Rune Knights barged through the doors of Fairy Tail with all the grace of a bull in a china shop. Each Knight carried a stern, statue-esque expression. Some looked as though they were prepared for a battle. Others shifted uncomfortably, but held their tough facade. Most, however, seemed… sad._

_The mages of Fairy Tail tenses as two more Rune Knights walked through the door: Lahar and… Mest?_

" _Oi! Mest" called Wakaba, "What's with the getup?" he asked, removing the cigar from his mouth and using it to gesture to the younger man's Rune Knight outfit._

_The scarred man gulped. "I… There's no easy way to tell you this." He took a deep breath in, then released it. With melancholy in his eyes and on his lips, he said, "My name… is not Mest Gryder. It's Doranbolt."_

_Just like that, all of the fun memories the guild had with the man known as "Mest Gryder" vanished into thin air. Their original memories returned to them like they were watching them on a video lacrima. Confusing spread through the room, turning to denial, then acceptance, and for some, acceptance turned into anger._

" _Now hold on a minute," a furious Macao stood up, drunkenly wobbling in front of his son to position himself between the boy and the supposed traitor. "Why the hell were you pretending to be one of us!? Why'd you mess with our memories?!" he growled, "With_ _ **my son's**_ _memories?!"_

_That seemed to have struck a chord with Doranbolt. He glanced over at the small boy poking his head out from behind his dad's back. Yet another child involved in his mistakes._

" _My mission was to infiltrate Fairy Tail," the traitor answered, hanging his head, "I was meant to find information that would lead to your guild being disbanded."_

_Gasps were heard all around the room. Everyone turned to look at each other and ask if they had heard that right. Sure enough, what they heard was correct; this man wanted to destroy their guild._

_Which lead to the question…_

" _Wait, you went with everyone to the S-Class trial. What happened to them?"_

_Doranbolt gulped, taking a step back and hoping to shrink as small as possible. There was only one thing he was happy about in this moment, and that was the fact that his head was tilting downward; it was a good position for it, seeing as he was about to tie a noose around his neck with these words;_

" _They're… gone. Acnologia… killed them._

* * *

Those words repeated on an endless loop in the boy's mind. Tears rolled down his eyes at the thought of his hero and his friends being mercilessly slaughtered at the claws of the Black Dragon Acnologia. He held his arms to his chest, hugging himself against the cold bark of the tree he had collapsed beside.

Now he was lost, with no way out of this endless fog. He didn't know if his father or the rest of his friends were coming to find him, and he didn't even know if they could. He was afraid that there would be no hero coming to his rescue this time.

He buried his head in his knees. His body had long forgotten the cold, instead succumbing to numbness. Quiet sobs echoes through the forest.

Something poked at the boy's leg, something similar to but not quite like a dog's snout. The creature brushed up against the boy, letting him feel its warm fur against his cold skin. It sniffed him. A low howl escaped its jaws, which was then answered back by a second howl somewhere further away.

It was at this point that the boy decided to look up, and of course what would he find but fields of scarlet waiting in front of his eyes. The sight almost brought him back to tears, but the sound of breathing pulled his head to the side, and he then realized exactly what he was looking at:

He was looking straight at the narrowed eyes of a _wolf._

 _"Gyaaahhhh!" The_ boy jumped away, crawling backwards on his hands and knees until his back pressed up against something else. His hands felt around behind him, and instead of the hard, tough bark he was hoping for, he ended up finding more soft, warm fur. He glanced up only to be met with a row of razor sharp teeth.

He gulped, feeling a warm liquid trailing down his shaking legs. "G-good doggies," he whimpered.

The scarlet wolf stepped forward, and it was then that Romeo realized it wasn't entirely scarlet. The majority of its large, bulky body that could easily fit three of him in its stomach was mainly covered in black fur with white around its legs, underbelly, and snout. The scarlet fur behaved more as an accent to the creature, peppered around its body like scar marks, covering its tail to make it look like a wild flame, and jutting out around its forehead like a crown. A lot of the fur around its face jutted out as well, making its front silhouette be in the shape of a knight's shield.

Romeo glanced other to the second wolf, who stepped backwards in response to the first one. While still large and easily capable of swallowing his body whole, it was nothing compared to the size of its counterpart. Its much more slender body was also black with white around the legs, chest, and snout. Blue markings covered its body, and an azure crown of fur rested on its head. Its blue tail was flat and sleek, and its shape reminded Romeo of a knight's sword.

The sword wolf snarled back at the shield one, glaring at the boy between them. The two started barking furiously at each other, neither side willing to give up… whatever it was they were fighting about.

Romeo didn't really understand what was happening, but he figured now would be his chance to escape. He started to back away slowly as to not draw the attention of the two furious canines. His hands and feet brought him further and further away from the wolves, until finally he was at the edge of the clearing.

_Snap!_

The boy gulped, glancing over towards the now-broken stick beneath his right foot. He felt two pairs of eyes on him.

The shield wolf trotted over and picked up the petrified boy by his shirt with its mouth.

Romeo tried to struggle out of the wolf's jaws to no avail. He threw kicks and punches at nothing while uttering a variety of curses a six year old probably shouldn't know. But as far as the wolf was concerned, the boy's actions were little more than a minor inconvenience.

After the shield wolf set him down, it went back to arguing with its counterpart, leaving the defeated Romeo back in the middle of the two canines.

Romeo still wasn't sure what they were arguing about, but he knew it involved him. Whether that was a good or bad thing was yet to be seen, but he was leaning towards it being the latter. The shield wolf, who for whatever reason Romeo wanted to call "Scarlet," at least appeared to be on his side. It was a strange comfort to him, but he'd take any comfort at this point, seeing as he was freezing in a forest with a pair of wolves surrounding him.

The two wolves bickered back and forth, continuously snarling and baring their fangs at one another. At a few points it seemed as though they were going to strike each other, but they held back. Soon the snarling began dying down. Scarlet began lightly howl and bark, occasionally gesturing to the boy, while the one Romeo felt was called "Azure" remained quiet but displeased with their counterpart. The blue-tailed wolf answered back with their own howls and barks, and Scarlet kept quiet. To an outside viewer, it would appear as though the two were holding a rather intelligent conversation.

Eventually the two ended their barking match. The blue wolf nodded their head before staring down at the still-frightened boy, sizing him up. Romeo didn't understand what he was being judged for, but he doubted the pee stain on his pants helped his case. Azure huffed, then lifted their head to Scarlet, letting out a small howl.

Scarlet howled triumphantly. With a snout covered by a canine smirk, they nudged Romeo off of his feet. The child had to pull on their fur a bit to stand up, but they paid it no mind.

The two wolves began walking further into the forest. Azure nudged their head around, seemingly indicating for the boy to follow them.

And for reasons unknown, he did. Despite being a six year old, he was still smart enough to know chasing after large, wild animals with big claws and bigger teeth was a bad idea; yet for some reason, he felt almost… drawn to the wolves. Scarlet especially.

The two wolves just barely remained in the boy's sight. The fog seemed to lighten up around them, almost as though nature itself were reacting to their presence.

Romeo also noticed that he no longer felt as cold as he did. Whereas the winter cold had been freezing the boy to death, it now felt as warm as a sunny autumn afternoon. He wondered if it was the wolves animating this heat. They were large creatures with large coats of fur, but normal wolves shouldn't be this warm, should they?

Then again, Romeo was pretty sure these wolves weren't normal. He didn't know of any wolves that were black with red accents or black with blue accents that lived in Magnolia Forest. He was pretty sure Magnolia Forest didn't even have wolves!

Yet here they were, leading him to gods know where. And here he was, following them for gods know why. Maybe he was hoping they'd lead him out of the forest and back to his family? Or at least somewhere safe for the night, out of the fog?

Or they were just bringing him back to their den so they could eat him!

Romeo gulped at the thought, but quickly set it aside. If they wanted to eat them, wouldn't they have done so already? It's not like he would've put up much of a fight. The two basically had him cornered the second they found him.

His thoughts stopped when he realized he had lost the wolves.

"Hey, what the-?" he yelled, running up to the last place he saw them. The fog around him began to fade away, and green grass sprouted beneath his feet. Whatever lingering cold the boy had felt vanished. Light shined on his face.

His eyes widened. He was pretty sure he wasn't in Magnolia Forest anymore, but he had no idea where he actually was. The scenery around him looked much more fitting for summer than winter; the grass was green, the trees still had their leaves, and flowers of all kinds bloomed everywhere. A large body of crystal clear water rested in front of him, as did a bridge to an odd structure on the other side.

Like an invisible string was pulling him along, he walked towards the bridge. It looked ancient, riddled with cracks and overgrown plantlife. The two wolf statues guarding the bridge were chipped and broken, looking much like the real wolves they represented. But despite its damage, the bridge still held strong as Romeo stepped across it, finally reaching the other side.

And what he found their was incredible. Stepping through a large, stone archway with part of the top having fallen away, he found himself on a massive stone platform right by a steep cliffside. Carved into the cliffside was a mural of sorts, depicting the images of eight different swords and shields; seven being the colors of the rainbow, all of which surrounded a black sword and shield set with a multicolored aura around it. Below these swords and shields was the image of a wispy, shadow-like black dragon.

Romeo looked right below the dragon to see the sword and shield the mural was probably depicting, though they didn't look nearly as cool in real life. The black shield, bashed and cracked and battered by time and many battles had been stuck in an indent in the cliffside, while the shattered black blade's hilt was poorly buried in a pedestal five feet before the shield, the rest of the blade laying scattered about.

"That's… a little lame," Romeo stated. He'd hoped the wolves would've shown him something cooler. A sword and shield were neat; he had always wanted to learn how to use a sword, plus having a shield with it could make for a good combo. Though seeing as his dad probably wouldn't let him get a sword for a while, perhaps he should take what he could get.

He approached the shield first and tried to pry it out of the wall. It was stuck pretty well. He grunted, pulling it harder and harder until finally _POP!_ It came out!

The boy fell backwards onto his butt, and the shield clattered against the ground right next to the broken blade. He stood back up and approached the shield. He tried to stick his hand through the arm thing on the back of the shield, but it the whole thing was far too big for him, so he had to latch his fingers around it to keep it on.

Once he had the shield, he moved on to the sword. He wanted to pull it out the way heroes in movies and video games do, raising it above their heads in a heroic pose while the blade glistens in the light. With his free hand, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt. The sword came out pretty easily. Most of the blade had long since been broken away, so none of it was actually in the pedestal. With a triumphant smirk, Romeo raised it over his head.

Seven shards of multicolored steel lifted themselves off the ground and floated toward the boy. The shields started to vibrate, its cracks vanishing and the rust falling away from it to reveal a multicolored glow. Vibrant colors, some Romeo had never even seen before, surrounded the boy.

Both of his arms began to tingle. Color bled from the whirlpool of light into both appendages, filling them with a strange and indescribable feeling that soon spread to his whole body. Translucent black iron formed above the boy's skin, encasing him in a ghastly knight's apparel like it was a cocoon.

He could hear the distant sound of howling grow closer to him. It came closer and closer, and the light grew brighter and brighter. Beyond the light, he saw the silhouettes of Azure and Scarlet. Their forms began to morph and shift, until for a brief, brief second they were replaced by a pair of humans with interlocked hands. Two voices he had never heard before called out to him:

_"A blade which slain beasts long past,"_

_"A shield to protect kingdoms vast,"_

_"Seven powers merged to one,"_

_"Forged beneath the setting sun,"_

_"To save us all when darkness falls,"_

_"And the Great Shadow brings death to all,"_

_"To resurrect the fading light,"_

_"We look to you, the Chroma Knight!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please bookmark if you enjoyed this story or want to see any other new stories I come up with, and please leave some kudos as well.
> 
> And please, definitely leave some comments. Feedback is the main thing I'm looking for with this endeavor. I want to know what you think of these stories, and I want to know if you think there's something I can improve on. 
> 
> So once again one final thank you for reading, and I hope to see you all next time!


	3. Tempest of the Heart Chapter 1: Everybody Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Tempest of the Heart
> 
> Description: For most of their lives, control was all Romeo and Sherria ever knew. "Control your magic," "Control your emotions," "Control your temper," etc, etc. If they weren't perfect, if they weren't the strongest, they were nothing. But now that they've found each other, they're finding that there's nothing they can't do. Get ready, because Love's Tempest is taking the world by storm!
> 
> Genre(s): Romance/?
> 
> Pairings: RomeoXSherria(Chelia)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Originally posted 1/30/2020)
> 
> Hello and welcome to my new story, Tempest of the Heart! 
> 
> Before I get into this story, there are two notable things to mention: 
> 
> 1) This is an AU where Romeo looked up to Laxus as a kid rather than Natsu. How he feels about Laxus post-Battle of Fairy Tail will be explored later on, but know that prior to that event, Romeo idolized Laxus in the same was he does Natsu in canon.
> 
> 2) Romeo and Sherria are significantly older, and Wendy is slightly older. By the year x791, Romeo is 17 years old, Sherria is 16 going on 17, and Wendy is 14. Reasons for this will also be explored in the story and addressed as they come up, though one of the main ones was simply that I wanted to write an older Romeo that exists during the canon storyline.
> 
> With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy, and please be sure to leave kudos and comment!

The waves off the Fiorian coast were surprisingly calm for this time of year. Perhaps it was a result of divine intervention, or maybe it was dumb luck. Either way, the passengers aboard the Christina were _very_ happy about it. Especially those that had been missing for the last seven years.

Little did they know, they had a big storm ahead of them.

"Seven years…" mused one Lucy Heartfilia, leaning up against the ship's railing. Her face reflected in the calm ocean waves, the same face she remembered having back in x784. Yet, according to Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale, it wasn't x784 anymore; it was x791. But to her, it might as well have been the same day she first arrived on the island.

The same day she and her guildmates were attacked by the Black Dragon known as Acnologia.

The blonde shuddered just _thinking_ about it. If Mavis hadn't been there to cast Fairy Sphere…

"Thinking, Lu-chan?"

Lucy's head snapped backward, the voice of her best friend pulling her from her thoughts. She sighed, "Yeah, Levy-chan. It's just… so weird." She looked back out into the ocean. "Seven whole years…"

"...But it hardly feels like a day," Levy finished, "Still, it's a much better outcome than being dead." She shrugged.

Lucy was taken aback by her friend's bluntness. "I, uh, guess that's true…"

Levy nodded. "Still, I bet so much has changed…" she stated, leaning her back up against the railing to watch the rest of the ship as Lucy did the same.

Gray nodded, slightly eavesdropping on the conversation. "I'll say." He looked out into the ocean. "The guild must've changed a lot in the past few years."

"Everyone's going to be so much older," Wendy pondered, before looking down at her still-13-years-old body. Her small hands floated over her equally small chest, pouting as she remembered her Edolas counterpart's ample bust.

"Do you think Alzack and Bisca every got together?" pondered Mira, holding a finder to her cheek. Already she was running through Plans "A" through "Y" on how to get them together, just in case they still needed that little push. The less said about Plan "Z," the better.

" _Hiighh Hwndrfhh hrrw erywrnnsh dhrnjjh_ …" Natsu added. Unfortunately, Wendy wasn't able to cast **_Troia_** on him due to fear he'd build up an immunity to it, so he was left quite literally hanging on the ship's railing, begging for the sweet release of death between barfs.

Bickslow grinned with that wide smile of his, bumping his former leader's arm with his own. "Oi, Laxus!" he cackled, "Wonder how your fanboy's doing!"

_"Fanboy! Fanboy!"_ repeated his babies.

Laxus's only response was to give a gruff, dismissive, _"hmph"_ and fold his arms over his chest. His head tilted downwards, scowling at the wood boards. Yet behind his usual broody scowl were inklings of what almost looked like _shame._

But he wasn't the only one to react to this inquiry. All present members of Fairy Tail who were left behind tensed, all aside from Alzack and Bisca, who both possessed glares more murderous than even their vast collection of sniper rifles. Lyon, Yuka, Toby, and Ren were also visibly pissed. Still, their anger paled in comparison to Lamia Scale's Doll Mage, who all of the men were trying to keep a respectful (read: safe) distance from as she tried to crush her not-full-enough wine glass beneath her iron grip. The only ones who appeared indifferent to the question were Jura and the members of Blue Pegasus, with the biggest reaction from them being Jura looking mildly peeved.

"Oh _yeeeaaahhhh_ ," Cana slurred. Somehow she had gotten ahold of a bottle of wine. Lucy was pretty sure she didn't have any back on Tenrou, so she figured she must've gotten some aboard the Christina at some point. The drunk woman hiccupped, her face flushed frowning as she recalled her last encounter with the young boy, now likely a young man. "Last we saw him, he was in the hospital again, wasn't he?"

"Mm." Freed nodded. "He wasn't even able to see us off." An arrogant smirk split his face, and a twinkle shimmered in his eye. "A shame, since he said he'd be cheering for me to become S-Class."

"You were his only option, moron," Evergreen stated bluntly, her words falling on Freed like an anvil.

"Excuse me?" the green-haired man groaned.

"Laxus is not a part of the guild anymore, and cannot get S-Class again anyway, so his cheers would default to us." Evergreen explained, her hands on her hips, "And because you were the only one of us who was chosen to participate, that made you his only option.

"And his last option, I'm guessing?" Freed huffed.

"Duh!" Bickslow giggled. "Though if I were allowed to participate, he would've been cheering for me! I was his favorite."

Evergreen put a hand on her head. "He liked spending time with _all_ of us," she sighed. She then glared pointedly at Bickslow. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you're his least favorite. Didn't you possess him once?"

Bickslow gulped. "Once. 'Sides, he asked to see what was under my mask." He shrugged.

"He was always the curious sort," Freed added, "Remember when he jumped off the guild's roof to see if he could fly on his lightning like Laxus-sama?"

Evergreen blushed, and Bickslow burst out in a fit of cackles. "How could I forget?!" the Seith Mage asked, "He landed face-first into Ever's chest!"

_"Ever's chest! Ever's chest!"_ his babies repeated, bouncing around happily.

Evergreen groaned.

More cracks formed on Sherry's glass.

"Hm." Elfman nodded. "Testing one's limits is manly!" he yelled, clenching his fists. Though all his bravado quickly vanished beneath Evergreen's scathing eyes. "But landing on women's chests.. isn't manly!"

Evergreen nodded.

Elfman let out a sigh of relief.

"Still, that kid was pretty strong," admitted Gray with his arms crossed. "Almost as good as Laxus was at his age."

"Well, he did learn from Laxus-sama himself," Freed spoke in a mix of pride and jealousy.

Juvia put her finger on her cheek. "Mm. Perhaps if Romeo-kun learns to control his magic power, Romeo-kun can also make S-Class!"

Laxus let out a sharp breath he didn't know he was holding. His eyes still wouldn't meet with anyone else's on the ship. "I doubt it. A case of M.O.S. like his isn't something someone can easily get over." He frowned.

"'Moss'?" Gajeel murmured.

"'Magic Overproduction Syndrome.'" Levy replied in an exasperated whisper, "It's when the body produces far too many magic particles for it to contain."

Wendy frowned. Though she never talked to the boy all that much, she remembered having to heal him more times than she could count on her fingers. The sight of him weakly crumpled to the floor lingered in her mind. "Poor Romeo-kun. I hope he was able to get better in the last few years."

A glass shattered against the ground. Twisted cackling echoed through the ship's deck. "Oh, he got better, alright." Sherry breathed like fire. The cherry haired girl then walked over and shoved her open hand out. "Drink!"

"Rude," Cana responded, "But here." She handed Sherry the bottle. "Knock yourself out."

Sherry swiped the bottle from Cana's hands. Tipping it upwards, she began draining all of its content down her throat. Most of the Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus members were shocked by this, but none of the Lamia Scale members or Ren looked phased in the slightest.

"Woah! Not literally!" Cana reached to get the bottle back. But she only grabbed air as Sherry swerved out of the way, draining the glass container to its very last drop of alcohol.

Erza raised an eyebrow. Cautiously, she approached Sherry. "What exactly did you mean by that?"

* * *

**Later That Night;**

The crowd roared in what was undoubtedly Love Tempest's best turnout yet. They waited impatiently along the edge of Magnolia Beach, eyes glued to the stage for the moment the band would step out to play. All they could see in the dim stage lights so far were a single microphone, a few amps, wires, and seven circular platforms that lined up near the curtains. The only noises that could be heard were from the waves of people and the ocean crashing against the sand.

Yet despite being a sea of people, none of them quite looked the same. There were mages and non-mages; people young and old; born Fiorians and immigrants from far off lands; people who identify as men, women, neither, or both; and simply all sorts of people, from all walks of life.

The only ones who looked similar were the large group of children standing near the front of the stage. Each of them had been given matching band t-shirts, and on either side of the group were a pair of adults who vaguely like teachers and religious folk.

However, despite the vast differences between faces, their reasons for being here were all the same:

They were here to see a rock concert.

Of course, not everyone was there for such simple reasons. No, a small group consisting of Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Erza, Happy, Carla, Gajeel, Sherry, and Laxus had all snuck into the concert with surprising ease so they might find a supposedly former guildmate of theirs. After everything the Blendy woman had said about him, they had a number of questions they wanted to ask.

* * *

**Earlier That Day;**

_"What exactly did you mean by that?"_

_"Oh, here we go…" Lyon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose._

_But Sherry ignored him. "What do I mean?" she copied, "Only that your little_ **_brat_ ** _stole my innocent baby cousin from me and turned her into a delinquent!" She through her hands out, her fingers curling in as though trying to crush the air itself. "He took my little Chelia away and besmirched her innocence!"_

_She held the back of her hand against her forehead like a southern belle about to faint from heat exhaustion. "My dear Chelia would've been a doctor and an S-Class mage at this point, had it not been for that scoundrel!" She narrowed her eyes. "But then he went and seduced her into a life of deviance and degeneracy! He's corrupted her morals and made her turn against her own family!"_

_She growled, "And that's not even mentioning what he did to your guild!"_

_Everyone from Fairy Tail, including the nauseous Natsu, stared at her. "What'd he do?" asked Laxus, his voice wavering ever so slightly._

_Sherry turned to the blond man, chuckling in a way that felt rather unsettling to the Lightning Mage. "He took a page out of your book," she answered the one thing he didn't want to hear. "He called your guild weak! He betrayed them! And worst of all, he attacked one of your guildmates…"_

* * *

**Present;**

" _Ugh_ , delinquents," Carla bemoaned, callous eyes watching over the people partying in the crowds, "Why do Wendy and I need to be here? This certainly isn't the place for a little girl."

Wendy pouted at her friend. "Carla, I'm not that little!" the fourteen-year-old huffed, then looked out into the crowd. "Besides, everyone here looks like they're having fun." She smiled. "It kind of reminds me of Fairy Tail."

Carla groaned, crossing her arms. "I don't think that's a good thing."

"We aren't here to have fun," Erza interjected, "We're here to locate a potential traitor, question him, and, if necessary, bring him to justice!" She thrust her sword into the air.

"And besmircher!" Sherry added frantically, "Don't forget that part!"

Erza nodded. "Ah, yes. How could I forget?" She looked over at Sherry. "Fear not! We shall make sure he is punished for stealing away your dear cousin and taking her innocence."

Wendy blushed at the remark.

Carla shook her head, resting a paw against her temple. "Another reason we shouldn't be here…"

"Are we even sure this is really Romeo?" Lucy questioned, "Last time we saw him, he was just a sweet little kid."

"That is what we're here to find out," Erza responded, "I, too, do not want to believe that this is true, but just look at how our guild was this afternoon." A downcast look appeared on her face. "It's clear that much has changed in our absence, and not for the better."

Suddenly, she struck her sword into the ground, causing Lucy to jump. "And where are Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Laxus! Those idiots are supposed to be searching for Romeo!"

Lucy sweatdropped. "Uh, Erza…" She pointed over to the concession stands.

There they saw Natsu and Happy. Natsu was angrily sniffing around through the crowds, invading personal spaces and creeping out everyone near him as he was unable to pick up any familiar scents. He was now getting into an altercation with some security guards, requesting for him to stop by threatening to remove him from the beach. As for Happy, he'd given up any pretense of searching, instead choosing to dine on fish kabobs laid out on the tables.

Erza sighed. "Alright, perhaps that was to be expected… What about Gray?"

"Yo!" the Ice Mage called out, stepping out of the crowd.

Though as he stepped out, all the girls realized that he was wearing a completely different shirt than the one he went in wearing. It was a black shirt, with the image of a heart made of pink swirls with a purple lightning bolt through it imprinted on the front of it. Checking the crowd once again, they all realized that several other people were wearing the same exact shirt, including the children at the front.

Sherry put her head in her hand.

"Gray, where did you get that?" Lucy asked.

"Hm?" Gray questioned, before looking down at his chest, "Oh, right. I lost my shirt, but they were giving these away upfront." He jabbed his thumb over in the direction of the stage. Then he lowered his hand and pinched some of the shirt's fabric. "It's surprisingly comfy, plus the design isn't that bad."

Everyone (except Sherry) unfortunately had to agree with that. It was a simple design, but they'd probably wear it if they had nothing else.

Erza groaned. "Gajeel, then! Let's rest our faith in Gajeel!"

Everyone immediately sweatdropped, some letting out a few nervous chuckles.

A few seconds later, they found the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Find anything?" Erza asked.

Gajeel nodded. "Yeah," he answered, sparking a brief hope in everyone else.

"They got a real shitty set-up up there."

And immediately, those hopes were crushed.

"Like, the lights aren't even that good. You can hardly see the stage," the literal metalhead ranted with crossed arms, "And they don't even got a drum set. They've got mic stands, amps, and some weird-looking platforms, but no drums."

A person from the crowd turned to face them with an amused expression. "None of you have ever been to a Love's Tempest concert, have you?"

Everyone shook their heads.

The concertgoer laughed, a pleased smirk crossing their face as they started to rejoin the crowd. "Well, just you wait, then."

"That was… odd." Carla stated, to which everyone else nodded.

Erza sighed. "I guess we're putting all our faith in Laxus, then." She looked around the crowd.

"Where the hell did he go!?"

* * *

His friends really were idiots.

Laxus was aware of how he, of all people, shouldn't be saying that, but in this case, it was true. Because if they were looking for someone who was going to be performing live, it was _obvious_ he wouldn't just be wandering about in the crowds;

He'd be backstage.

And that was precisely where Laxus was. Though it was hard to actually call where he was "backstage." Yes, it was behind the stage, which he supposed was the only qualification for a backstage area, but it wasn't like there was a room dedicated specifically for the band and the set-up crew.

Realistically that should have been obvious. The stage was one of those portable ones meant to be set up in open outdoor areas. The only things that actually separated the backstage area from the rest of the beach were curtains, rope fencing, and the respect of the audience. Respect that Laxus was breaking by being back here.

Though it wasn't like there was much, anyway. Only a few trucks and trailers, likely for carrying equipment and for the band to change clothes, and the ocean. Nothing particularly special.

And like sneaking into this concert, it really wasn't hard to sneak back here. There were hardly any security guards, though his gut told him that might've been Natsu's doing, so it was easy for him to just walk back here completely unnoticed.

" _Hey._ "

Laxus jumped. "What the fuck?!" How did someone sneak up to him without him noticing? His draconic sense of hearing should've alerted him to any approaching footsteps, and his draconic sense of smell should've told him there was someone nearby. Frustration rose in him as he wondered what his stupid lacrima was even good for.

He turned around. His eyes met with someone in a ninja get-up of all things. The person in front of him appeared to be a teenage male, though all Laxus could really see of him were his brown eyes and light brown hair. He also appeared to be very crossly holding a clipboard.

"Are you looking for an autograph?" he asked dryly, "If so, you'll have to wait until the show's over."

Laxus shook his head. "No, I'm not-"

"Then are you authorized to be here?"

"Uhh…" Laxus paused. "Yes. Yes, I am. I'm a friend of one of the band members." It wasn't technically a lie. At one point, Romeo had even considered Laxus to be an older brother figure. Sure, that had all been messed up when… but surely enough time must've passed for him to have forgiven it?

"Hm." The ninja began flipping through his clipboard. "Alright. What's your name?"

"Laxus Dreyer." Laxus crossed his arms. Apparently, seven years was enough time for the world to forget about him as well. "I'm from Fairy Tail."

The ninja's eyes widened. "Fairy Tail?" he repeated.

Laxus nodded. "That's right."

"Hm." The ninja's eyes narrowed. "I see…"

He was gone in a literal flash. Laxus didn't even _have_ the time to be surprised before feeling a sharp slash to his back, followed by a violet light and his body collapsing against the soft sand. A tingling sensation spread through him like venom. He felt the weight of a person—likely the ninja—on his back.

The ninja then grabbed at his arms and tried to tie them together with what felt like some kind of rope.

"Hey!" Laxus yelled. "What's the big idea?! I told you I was from Fairy Tail!" He tried to struggle out of the ropes, but his body wouldn't respond. Whatever the ninja-looking fucker just did to him made him unable to move.

"Romeo specifically ordered for any Fairy Tail members who sneak back here to speak with him to be detained with extreme prejudice until the show was over," the ninja explained in a level voice, "He was afraid that you would try to ruin the concert."

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "What…?" Then shook his head. "Never mind, just-Hyah!" he screamed, but nothing happened. He tried to summon his lightning again, but nothing happened. He tried again, but nothing happened. Overall he was just becoming really frustrated with the situation at hand.

The ninja rolled his eyes. "They're anti-magic ropes, idiot."

Laxus stopped.

"...Oh."

"Yeah," the ninja replied, "And they're capable of containing the power of even a Wizard Saint. So if you want to see Romeo, your best bet is just coming with me and waiting a little while."

Laxus groaned. On the one hand, he knew that if he could just _grab_ the stupid ninja, he could snap him like a toothpick. But on the other, being held backstage could give him a chance to learn more about Romeo, and also allow him to prepare for actually seeing the boy again.

Reluctantly, he went with the latter.

"Good," the ninja sighed. He helped Laxus off the ground ('Not that I need it,' Laxus thought indignantly) and began to bring him to one of the trailers.

Laxus groaned in annoyance. A brooding frown covered up the feeling of defeat. That is until a pair of voices caught his attention, drawing his gaze over to the stage.

And that was when he saw Romeo. The image of his small, helpless little brother shattered into a million pieces. There he was, standing up all on his own. Though he was still pretty thin, he'd grown much taller and even gained some muscle definition. His body was adorned in dark leathers and spikes, his hair had been dyed, and tattoos on his chest, the most significant one being the image of a tiger. A guild mark, Laxus presumed, one he didn't recognize. What he also didn't recognize was the look on the boy's rougher, more imposing-looking face:

He looked… _happy._

Even back in Fairy Tail, Laxus was pretty sure he never saw Romeo smile like that. Not when he told him about recent missions, or becoming S-Class, or even when he helped him learn magic. Not once had that kind of bright smile ever crossed his face.

He assumed it must have something to do with the girl he was talking to. Like Romeo, she also had a punk aesthetic, and the hair color told Laxus she was probably Sherry's little cousin. There was a smile on her face that made Laxus wonder just what the hell Sherry was talking about.

Romeo pulled her in for a hug. It surprised her, but she looked far from minding it. They reminded Laxus of the ending of a cheesy romantic comedy, a thought that almost made him throw up in his mouth.

They pulled away from each other, and Romeo gave her a kiss on the forehead. She giggled and possibly said something before peeling back the curtain and walking out on stage. Romeo lifted the curtain to follow her, but something stopped him in his tracks.

He turned around.

Dark eyes met Laxus's. They looked so much older than when he last saw them and far more uneasy. The boy's fingers, the ones that weren't holding the curtain back, fidgeted nervously, generating tiny sparks around them.

The two held this for what felt like a whole minute. Both of them looked like deer in headlights, the fear of failure evident in both pairs of eyes.

But then, Romeo looked away. He shook his head. The sparks around his fingers vanished, as did their fidgeting. Laxus could only see the back of his head as he walked out on stage to the deafening roar of the crowds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. I wanted to try something different with this story by having it be more character-driven rather than having a big, overarching end-of-the-world-big-bad type of plot that I have with all my other stories. There will still be plenty of fights involved, and Romeo's magic will be playing a big role in this, but most of the fights will be more"personal" fights, rather than "save the world" fights.
> 
> And speaking of my other stories, I do plan on getting back to them sometime soon. My plans are to post the second chapter of this that's already halfway done and make it its own story, post two more chapters of Time Comes Around and make that its own story, then get to working on new chapters for Out of the Ashes and my new RWBY story, Out on the Table (which you should really check out if you're into RWBY).
> 
> So once again thank you, and please be sure to favorite, follow, and comment. Your support helps me keep at it and it means a lot more than you may think. I'm also working on responding to people's comments, so if you have any questions I'd be willing to answer them, assuming they're not spoilers of course.
> 
> So once again, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time


	4. Time Comes Around Deleted Chapters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so for anyone who originally read Time Comes Around on here and is confused, I decided to revamp the whole story and put the original chapters of it here. Time Comes Around still exists as its own story, but it now has a brand-new first chapter that you can go and read, so please go check that out when you get the chance.

**Chapter 1: The End of the World (With Fireworks)**

**July 20, x790**

Deep below the depths of Crocus slept a hidden treasure, the kind capable of altering the fate of the entire world should it be awoken. Yet for hundreds of years, it remained lost in time, buried beneath ruins that were buried further by Fiore Royal Magic Academy, never to see the light of day again.

At least, not until now…

"Ethernano containers at a hundred percent, holding stable…"

The boy had been shocked when he just accidentally stumbled upon this treasure. He'd simply been messing around with his more-than-friend, Chelia, after class, trying to impress her with an—in his opinion— _incredible_ display of fire magic. But one stray fireball and a near-death fall later, he ended up with something so much more.

"Pseudo-keys in position…"

Thankfully, he was good on his feet, even when his feet were falling at very high speeds towards a solid stone floor. He managed to catch himself in a beanbag-sized **_Purple Bubble_** , saving himself from splattering all over the ground. He freaked at first, not just because he was stuck but also because he was afraid of losing the scholarship his old teacher had given him.

But with no way back up and no hope of being rescued for a good while, he figured he might as well go exploring.

"Ravines of Time located…"

And that's when he found them. In the ruins of what looked to be an ancient school, he managed to find what must've been one of the greatest treasures in the world: research notes, written by none other than Zeref himself.

"Preparing the Gate..."

The boy had learned plenty about Zeref, both in school and from his late older brother. He knew the man was pure evil, and anything that even vaguely related to him should be burnt on sight. But at the same time, the man's genius _is_ pretty undeniable...

Besides, what was the _worst_ that could've happened from a little peek at his old notes?

And that's how it started. Every day for the last year, Romeo studied and followed the notes like a religion. A majority of the blueprints and projects he found held no use to him, such as the prints he found for Magic Amplifiers. Or they terrified him, like the plans for the R-System and Thunder Palace. But there was one set of research notes in particular that stood out to him.

He wished he could say building it had been difficult, but the majority of the groundwork had already been laid out for him. Yes, the device he built wound up being pretty rudimentary, mainly due to a lack of resources, but who cares if it looked pretty? He just needed it to work. And seeing as he'd already perfected all of Zeref's theories and understood each of his equations within the first month, it would.

The real tricky part was just getting power for the damned thing. He was broke, so it wasn't like the boy could buy whole stores' worths of Lacrima Batteries (not that he'd want to or that it would actually work). Luckily, an alternative source of power sat right above his head. For the past year, he'd been slowly, steadily draining magic particles from his classmates. Not enough for them to notice, but still enough for him to get his little project done at a reasonable time. Day after day, his machine would build up more ethernano, all while he spent his time waiting;

Waiting for this moment.

The newly-appointed 13-year-old lifted the lacrima device in the air and pressed the button.

**_BOOM!_ **

Green flames lit up the dark cavern, melting away its stone ceiling to allow the moonlight to pour in. Small chunks of rubble, some of it marked with the lines from the school's sparring fields, fell to the ground.

_'Maybe I should've built this thing above ground…'_ the boy thought, before staring back up at the brilliant green explosion made from his own flames. He grinned, _'Then again, I'm a sucker for nostalgia, and what's a sendoff without some fireworks?'_ He wasn't too worried about all the damage he was causing. After all, in a few minutes, it will never have existed anyway.

A faint light poured down from the new hole in the catacomb's ceiling. The boy grinned, removing his coat and scarf and revealing a variety of sloppily made tattoos. Zodiac signs ran across his body, all connected by a series of runic symbols. Taurus, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Cancer were divided amongst his arms; Aquarius and Leo rested on his shoulders; and Gemini, Scorpio, Aries, Pisces, and Libra spread out across his back. His left palm held the image of the moon, and his right held the sun. Finally, tying the whole operation together was the image of a circle with an upside-down, horizontally-bisected triangle in the center of his chest.

He stepped into the middle of a large, circular platform made from lacrima, the power source for his Gate. Resting equidistant from each other on the platform's edge was a total of twelve false keys, each bearing the symbol of a Celestial Spirit. They couldn't actually summon a Spirit, but at the same time, they didn't need to. All they needed to do was open up the portal to the Celestial Spirit Realm. The pieces didn't need to look good as long as they were in place.

Glancing up, he saw the final piece of his device hanging right above him in the night sky:

An _eclipse!_

Laughter escaped from the boy's throat. Six years of suffering and three years of work had finally built up to this! "Alright, Romeo," the boy said to himself, "It's finally time. Everything you've been working for..." He looked over to the six-year-old x784 calendar he had hung up on the wall, where a specific day in December had been violently circled in red pen. Nerves began to bite at his heels, but he hid them away with a wicked grin. "...has led to right now!"

One by one, the keys surrounding him began to glow and levitate off the ground, causing the corresponding marks on his body to burn with them. The boy felt a strange and immense power enter him, energizing every cell in his being. The circle on his chest lit up a vibrant green, a secondary but necessary spell for this all to work. The sun and moon on his hands burned gold and silver, as did the respective eyes. He spread his arms apart, then brought his hands together into a thunderous CLAP!

Light flooded throughout the entirety of Crocus, blinding its inhabitants and making the night seem as though it were day. No one could move, and no one could feel a thing. Everything was as still as a picture. An old, purple-haired man stopped reaching for his drink. A young teacher held still his letter of resignation. A heartbroken girl's heart beat one final time.

And the sun never rose again.

* * *

** Chapter 2: A Fall Down Memory Chasm  **

Traveling through time was a much different experience than what Romeo expected.

He thought it would've been more of a _"blip"_ type deal, you know? In the year x790 in one second, in x784 the next! In the blink of an eye, time travel! He wouldn't feel anything. He wouldn't see anything. All he'd do was close his eyes to the present and open them to the past.

Yet it wasn't like that at all. Maybe Romeo should've expected that. Things never run smoothly for his guild, so why should things be any different with him?

Because why would he expect a _blip_ when he could get a thousand-mile horizontal _freefall_ instead?

Because that's precisely what he's getting. Hurtling horizontally at what must've been near-terminal velocity at this point. Razor-sharp crystal spikes lined up the rock walls on either side of him, ready to shred him to pieces if he even looked at them funny. His eyes widened as he tucked in all of his limbs, attempting to make himself as small as possible to avoid the spiky death-rocks.

His only safety came in the form of a little string of light emerging from the circle on his chest. If his theories were correct, which they often are, this string was tethering him to and pulling him towards the other side of his Gate. All he had to do was lay back and let it pull him to safety. But that was easier said than done with a bunch of murder rocks on all sides, so he tried to focus his mind on other things.

Like where the _fuck_ he even was!

He knew it wasn't Eathland. Not only was this planet far smaller than Earthland, but its gravity also appeared to be in a sideways curve. Both of these could easily be told by the way the edges of the cliffs "above" him curved outwards at a constant rate.

It was impossible to see the curvature of Earthland's surface with the naked eye. No matter how far you looked, the planet would always appear "flat" from your perspective. This is because the planet is simply too massive for any curve to be seen.

Here, however, while the cliffs' edges did curve subtly, Romeo could still clearly see it if he looked for it. And given how that curve appeared to be continuous, interrupted only by a few large rocks or the occasional hill, he felt safe in saying that what he saw was the curve of the planet's surface. Which meant that whatever world he was on was likely smaller than even Earthland's moon.

And he knew gravity was going sideways by the way his fall appeared to follow this curve. At no point in his descent did he get closer or further from the top of the cliffs. The planet's surface remained the same exact distance from himself, as did the bottom of the—what he could now safely call a—ravine.

Had gravity been any semblance of normal, then he would've either splattered against the bottom of the ravine or gotten launched out of it. But it wasn't. It was like whoever was steering gravity got shitfaced drunk and flipped the whole thing upside down and into the neighbor's swimming pool. If Romeo wanted to, and if he hadn't been surrounded by a bunch of pointy stabby-stones, he probably could've pointed his arms outwards and pretended to fly like a superhero.

So he knew he wasn't on Earthland anymore, but that still begged the question of what rabbit hole he was currently falling down. He wished he could've seen Earthland or anything in the planet's sky, but there was nothing; not even a star, just the eternal black void of space. He almost thought he saw a person looking down on him from the cliffs, but quickly dismissed the thought. The lack of anything in the sky told him he must've been pretty far away from Earthland.

"No shit," he answered it back.

Looking down didn't present him with any answers, either. Instead, it only gave him more questions.

For what he saw below him was something that he could only describe as a living star. It was bright, burning, and brilliant in the eyes of the boy. Energy, unlike anything he'd ever felt, before pulsed out like a heartbeat. Whispers shouted out from the center like it was thinking—like it was imagining every thought that was ever and will ever be conceived. It sparked such awe and terror in the boy that he wondered if this was what Chelia meant when she spoke of "true love."

However, despite this feeling, it still didn't tell the boy where he was. But there was something that could give him a hint. In addition to the large stabby crystals lining the ravine's walls, there were also many flat ones, ones that reminded Romeo of mirrors.

Yet what he saw in those mirrors wasn't quite him.

They were pretty close, but there was always something off. The wrong outfit, slightly messier hair, no tattoos, too short, too tall…

_Too young and too old!_

The answer hit him like a punch in the face. It was so obvious! It was what he was going for this whole time!

He was in the _Ravines of Time!_

He had always believed they were just a concept: a simple method of understanding the intricate, non-linear flow of time. Yet here they were as real as he was! A physical place where time and space were bent and twisted!

He'd have to study everything! He can't allow himself to forget a single detail of the Ravines! What this could mean for the magic world could be astonishing!

A planet that contained the whole of time… Romeo could feel it, pulsing, breathing as though it were a living creature. And for all he knew, it was!

Oh, he needed more time here. He wished he could come back and—

_'Oh… right..'_ Melancholy swept over him as he remembered. _'I won't be coming back… not after this.'_ A frown formed on the boy's face. He'd spent so much time hoping his plan would work, it almost slipped his mind what his plan working meant _specifically for him._

A tricky part of time travel, one that he didn't like to think about too much, was that time would likely end up… _correcting_ itself once everything was said and done. It was a part of Zeref's theories that any alterations to the past would end up overwriting the original timeline with the altered one. It was a sound theory as far as Romeo was concerned, but it created a small problem for him:

He was a part of that old timeline.

If time was changed, he'd undoubtedly end up being erased; wiped from existence like a snowflake landing on your finger. There would be no memory of him, not even be a memory of a memory. Technically speaking, a version of him would still exist, but it wouldn't really be _him._ He'd perish, and some new Romeo would go sauntering off in his place.

But that was the point, he supposed. He wasn't the one meant to enjoy this. It was all for the next Romeo to carry on to a better, brighter future. It had been that way from the beginning.

Even still, he wished he could see it.

He looked over to the crystals on the right side of the wall, the ones that all seemed to contain older versions of himself. His possible futures, he presumed. There were quite a few of them: ones where he won various magical awards, a few where he became S-Class, a few where he was marrying Chelia…

He looked away from them. His future had already been decided, so there was no point in trying to dwell on it. He knew he was right; he could see it in the corners of his eye. The further he went, the more he saw crystals on the right wall fading, becoming empty as their vibrancy vanished into a dull void. Time itself was being erased.

There was no future for him anymore, and that was by his choice.

This was his destiny.

So he looked to the left wall. There he saw younger versions of himself, his past self. Memories good and bad lined up the Ravine's stone surface in reverse-chronological order. Or rather, the crystals went in chronological order, and it was just him who was moving backward relative to them.

Romeo glanced into one of them. Judging from what the crystal showed him, the images he was seeing were from this morning.

Throbbing pain overtook the boy's head. Pins and needles invaded each of his limbs, pulling them into numbness. His vision turned to static until the Ravines of Time faded from sight completely.

Then suddenly, he was back in his lab, staring at his miniature Eclipse Gate.

"What the _fuck!?"_ he screamed, throwing his hands in the air before using them to pull at his hair. Why was he back here?! _How_ was he back here?! He was in the Ravines! He should've been well on his way to the year x784, not back here! What went wrong?!

It irritated the boy to no end to be back in these caverns, and this time it wasn't just because of the few dim candle lights scattered about the dark, forgotten classroom. He just wanted to use his fire magic to wreck this ancient school even more than he and time already had—

_'That's right,'_ he suddenly realized, _'I used my_ ** _Acid Flames_** _to blow a hole in the roof… but…'_ He looked up to the part of the ceiling right above his Eclipse Gate. He had to blow a hole in it so the light from the lunar eclipse would activate the Gate, and yet…

… There was no hole. The only damage done to the ceiling was that done by the cold, meticulous hands of time. There was no sign of the damage _he_ caused.

"Ah, fucking hell," Romeo's voice said, but strangely enough, it didn't come from his body. Confused, he turned around.

And saw himself.

The other Romeo literally walked straight through him. It was like he was a ghost, meant to view…

Meant to view his past memories!

Of course! He's so unbelievably _stupid!_

He smacked himself on the head. His Gate didn't fail! He was still in the Ravines of Time, looking through the crystals! Crystals that contain pieces of his past! He is quite literally observing his own history!

That was incredible. Sure, Romeo was still a ways off from his real goal, but this in itself was _astounding!_

He continued to observe the other Romeo, who he decided needed a special designation so things wouldn't get confusing. _'Past-Romeo...? Proto-Romeo...?'_ He snapped his fingers as a lightbulb went off.

_'Promeo.'_

Romeo watched Promeo trudge across the darkly lit classroom. He appeared to be in distress about something, and Romeo remembered what.

"That stupid girl," Promeo rasped, marching towards his workbench. It was just a simple wooden desk, yet it was also the very same desk that Zeref himself once used, given how it was here that Romeo found his research notes. The only thing on the bench beside his notes and other random scribbles was a framed picture displaying the family that he had lost.

Romeo's face softened as he looked at it. _'Just you wait, guys… this is all for you…'_

His eyes continued around the room, deciding to take it all in one last time. The walls were all lined with different research notes—some Zeref's, some his— connected by threads of yarn. Papers full of diagrams, equations, and magic circles were littered about everywhere. The only breaks from this chaos were the calendar with _'December 16, x784'_ violently circled and one of those motivational cat posters. The poster would have displayed a pair of cats sitting in a box with some type of inspirational text accompanying them, had it not been for the fact that he tripped while bringing it down into the ruins, staining the text with mud and ripping a hole through the cat on the left.

It annoyed him when it first happened, but now he thought it was pretty funny. Especially given how he was too stubborn to buy another one.

Finally, his attention was brought back to Promeo, who was in the process of furiously pulling out some notes from his desk drawer. "She just had to drag me out to that _stupid_ arcade on the night of a fucking eclipse! Setting me back another-" One of the drawers in his desk got stuck. "-five-" He yanked on it. "-fucking-" He yanked again. "-months!" He pulled one final time, ripping the drawer clean off its hinges and scattering paper everywhere.

Romeo cringed at his past self's actions. He hoped he wouldn't have to view them for much longer.

Promeo released a heavy sigh akin to dragons' breath. Leaning down, he began to pick up the scattered research. "Well, I won't miss this one. I refuse to delay any longer." He couldn't delay any longer; his deadlines were already fast approaching. He lifted the notes back up, placing them neatly on top of his desk.

The boy turned to face his creation. Determination sparked in his eyes. "Tonight is the night." He glanced at a nearby picture frame. "For you guys."

Romeo leaned in towards the desk. On top of the notes pile was his research on Living Body Links. At the very top of the paper was a circle containing an inverted triangle with a line through it. His eyes skimmed the first two paragraphs of the notes.

_The circle represents Spirit, or the soul, and appears to be the base for all magic circles. Perhaps magic and the soul are directly linked? Still, there's no definitive evidence that souls even exist, nor have I found any way to access my own soul, let alone other people's. I guess I'll have to create the link using our magic containers instead._

_The inverted triangle with the line meanwhile represents Earth, or the body. By combining the two and imprinting them into my own skin, I should be able to create a secure Link to anyone I choose. Which is good, since I'm choosing one of the most stubborn jackasses I know._

Romeo nodded. _'Most stubborn jackass indeed,'_ he thought, before looking to his counterpart and seeing him tracing celestial signs on his skin. He gulped when he realized what would be coming next. His body still stung from the needle of the cheap, knock-off tattoo device he'd purchased a few months back. He wanted to tell his past self, "It'll be worth it," but didn't, partly because he knew it wouldn't work, and partly because he was afraid it actually would.

Static suddenly invaded Romeo's vision. His body went numb. All he could feel was the string of light on his chest, pulling him further into his own past.

When it faded, he found he was in his General Magic Studies class at Fiore Academy. The teacher appeared to be in the middle of passing out papers to the room. A wide variety of expressions crossed the students' faces, all ranging from joy to anxiety to despair.

Glancing at one of the papers, Romeo saw that it was a test on the properties of magic containers that he'd taken a while back. Big, red numbers were at the top of every paper, indicating that the teacher was handing back the graded versions.

Going off that, Romeo guessed that he was somewhere (somewhen? Nah, that's lame…) in early June, only a few weeks prior to him going through the Gate.

As far as he could tell, this was only a random memory. Just a random piece of his timeline to experience all over again. It made sense for it to be that way; did he honestly expect this little journey to have a theme?

He sighed, leaning against the classroom's back wall and scanning for his past self, who he decided to continue calling "Promeo" for the time being. He was, of course, sitting at the very front of the class, waiting impatiently for his test to be handed back.

Promeo's leg bounced anxiously, but not for the reason everyone else was anxious. His eyes kept diverting themselves back to the clock, watching the little hand _tick-tick-tick_ away precious seconds that could be used to work on his Eclipse Gate. All he had to do was wait for his test to be handed back, then he could leave the class as usual.

Not soon enough, the teacher finally came his way and placed a packet upside-down on his test. Promeo didn't care much for the grade. It was hardly like it mattered. The only reason he was even in school at all was that he couldn't risk being kicked out. All of his hard work rested a mere fifty feet under the establishment; being kicked out would mean losing all of it.

Still, mild curiosity begged for him to at least _look_ at what he got. He'd bothered to answer all the test's questions, it might as well answer back. His fingers traced the edges of the paper, lifting up the edges before swiftly pulling them to the opposite side of his desk in a satisfying _fwip_! With the paper turned over, he could now see the numbers marked in red ink;

_42_

_'Ouch,'_ Promeo winced, _'I was curious, but that's one shitty answer.'_ He glanced over to the empty seat next to him and frowned. His head then turned to a few rows back, where a reddish-pink haired girl was celebrating what was no doubt another perfect score. It made him smile briefly until the two ended up locking eyes. Her icy glare was enough to freeze even a fire mage like him.

He quickly brought his head back around to the front of the room. A breath of air left his lungs. Some feeling that was almost foreign to him ripped away at his insides. His head hung when he realized what that feeling was:

Shame.

Promeo shook his head. There wasn't time for _shame!_ An eclipse was approaching soon, and he needed to be ready for it! He will not miss his opportunity a second time!

He raised his hand into the air. The teacher didn't even look at it before going, "Yes, Romeo, you can be excused."

A smirk crossed his face. He stood up, made his way to the door, then stopped. An invisible force kept him from moving. And it wasn't the whole " _self-guilt-tripping-no-you-should-go-back"_ type of invisible force, either. No, there was an _actual invisible wall_ right in front of him.

Well, almost invisible. Upon further inspection, Promeo saw little black swirls holding together the air around him, compressing it into an almost solid mass.

He glanced back over at Chelia. Her eyes pleaded with him, begging him not to walk out.

"Romeo? I thought you were leaving?" the teacher asked.

"Huh?" He turned around. "Oh, uh, yeah…" Sparing one last glance at Chelia, he answered, "Yeah, I am."

Chelia's closed her eyes, her face falling in defeat. A whoosh could be heard as she released the wall of wind blocking Promeo's path.

Romeo wondered what would've happened if he had stayed. He'd have lost a few hours to work on the Eclipse Gate, but in retrospect, that might've been fine. He did end up being ready a few days ahead of schedule, only needing to put on a few last-minute touches (his skin burned) on the final day.

Maybe one last evening with Chelia would've been lovely. Or maybe it would've caused him to never leave.

But he supposed that was a question that would never be answered. So instead, he relinquished himself to watching his past self walk down the hallway, checking his phone and ignoring the twelve total missed calls from his dad and Totomaru.

The static returned as Romeo watched himself leave. This time when he emerged, he ended up in an arcade in downtown Crocus. He stopped coming to the place a few months ago, but before _that_ , it had been one of his favorite places to hang out. He and Chelia would have fun getting the high score on every single machine in the building; he'd beat her in _Road Battlers_ , she'd whoop his ass in _Maria Kart_ , he'd retaliate in _Dance Dance Revelation_ , and so on and so forth. The memories brought a bittersweet smile to his face. He hoped he was witnessing one of those times.

Unfortunately, it seemed that wish would not be granted.

Instead, he found Chelia playing alone, her only company being the crowd she gathered as she decimated the old high score in _Snacc-Boi_ with what was nearly a _very nice_ score of 69,414. Romeo knew precisely what she was trying to go for and that she easily could've gotten those last six points, but her concentration seemed to be elsewhere. A frown and messy mascara were reflected in the machine's death screen, and her eyes kept diverting to other parts of the arcade.

Romeo didn't entirely remember this bit from the first time around, but he now realized that she seemed to be entirely too well dressed for a place like this. She'd let her hair down, and her usual dress had been replaced by a lovely sky blue sundress that he doesn't remember ever seeing her in before. And now that he was looking, he realized that she was wearing more makeup than usual as well...

A pit formed in the boy's stomach. He didn't pay much attention to it before, mainly because he had far more important things on his mind, but now he understood. Which only caused him to feel more guilty since he knew what was coming next.

Hindsight may be twenty-twenty, but it's also a real _bitch._

Without saying a word, Chelia left the arcade machine. The crowd moved parted for her, all expressing joy and congratulations on her getting the new high score. A few of the braver boys and girls even asked her for her number.

But Chelia ignored them. She was making a beeline for the arcade's food court, and Romeo followed her. Blue and black eyes searched for the boy's past counterpart. It took Chelia a few minutes to find him, but Romeo knew _precisely_ where he was.

The boy in question was sitting by himself in a booth by a window, staring out into the night sky. Promeo watched as the final moments of the lunar eclipse passed by, ending his wish of activating his Gate that night. Even after the eclipse had faded, his vacant eyes remained glued to the window. A cold, untouched slice of pizza sat in front of him.

"Hey," Chelia softly called out to him, "Are you alright?" If you're not having fun, we can go somewhere else." Her soft blue eyes filled with concern as he still didn't look at her.

"You missed the award ceremony, you know," she changed topics, "Gran Doma was there. He gave me this cool book, with all sorts of neat magic ... told me I could sign up for a special tutoring program with the Council..." Still, he didn't respond. "He said there was something for you, too..."

She whimpered. "Y'know, maybe this arcade is getting a little boring. There's plenty of fun places around Crocus, so maybe we could try somewhere else?" Chelia insisted, "Or if not, we could…" Her voice quivered, and her hands began to shake. He had hardly talked—let alone _looked_ —at her the entire night. They might as well have been on different planets.

Promeo groaned, then yawned lightly. "Nah. I think I'd rather head turn in for the night, get some sleep. Might as well do something useful." He mumbled the last part, not caring if Chelia heard it.

And she did. Her fake smile began to falter.

Romeo felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

Finally, Promeo turned around, but it was only so he could get out of his seat. He patted the girl on the shoulder and said, "I'll see you in class tomorrow," as he started walking towards the door.

Chelia's head drooped. She took a deep breath, then exhaled, clenching her fists. "Wait!" she shouted, catching him just before she left the building.

"Look, I'm…" She gulped. "I'm sorry I made you come here, alright?" Her hands were fidgeting, and she could just barely meet his gaze. "It's just… I'm worried about you. You've been skipping class, your grades are dropping, you haven't been talking to your dad or Totomaru…" Finally, she locked eyes with him for the first time that night. "We haven't even hung out for weeks," she breathed.

Her hands reached out and grabbed his, holding them firmly. "If there's something you need to talk about, I'm here for you. Please…" Tears welled in her eyes. "... Don't shut me out."

Confusion spread across Promeo's face. "What?" He shook his head. "Chelia, no. Look, you… you just don't get it." His hands pulled themselves away from hers, leaving her fingers grasping at nothing. "What I'm doing, it's way more important than any of that." With a stone-cold expression, he said, "Compared to what I'm going to do, none of this-" He gestured to everything around him. "-even matters. _Literally."_

"How could you say that?!" Chelia's voice cracked. "So what, now your _grades_ don't matter?! Your _family_ doesn't matter?!

"What about us?" she gasped. "Are you saying that _we_ don't matter?"

" _'Us?'_ " Romeo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by _'us?'_ "

Chelia felt her heart breaking. "I thought you… I thought we..." she sobbed, letting her head droop, "...nevermind..." Putting on a false smile, she said, "I hope whatever you're doing… I hope it works out how you want it to." And with that, she started walking back into the arcade.

Then she turned around and walked back, grabbing the door handle. "The exit's here," she whispered.

Romeo watched the two walk out the door, then go their separate ways in the parking lot. Promeo didn't even turn back to look at Chelia, which was best for him, because if he had, he would've seen Chelia breaking down into tears as she called for a ride home. Romeo, however, had a front-row seat to the girl's breakdown, which made him wonder... if he had seen this, would he have turned around? And if he had turned around, would they have still been friends?

It was strange. Romeo knew he was doing the right thing! He knew what he was doing would be better for everyone!

So why did he feel like this? What was this strange sorrow?

He wasn't able to find an answer. Once again, the static rolled into his vision, and the scenery around him faded into nothing. Romeo didn't know which of his memories he was about to face next, but whatever it was, he wasn't prepared for it.

* * *

**Omake: _Super Snacc-Boi Adventures_**

"C'mon! C'mon! You can do it!" Romeo cheered. A brand new arcade machine called _Snacc-boi_ had just been added to Chelia's and his favorite arcade and, like with every other arcade machine, the two needed to make sure they were the ones dominating the top of the leaderboards.

The amaranth-haired girl groaned. "It's not as easy as it looks, you know. Her right hand moved the joystick so fast it was hard to believe it didn't fall off, while the left wore down on brand new buttons. Blue eyes narrowed on the yellow circle, narrowly avoiding another phantom and collecting even more white dots. "Just wait 'till you get up here, love."

The boy smirked. "You mean when I go up and turn your score to dust?" He didn't want to admit that he was getting a little nervous. It was still her first attempt, and Chelia was already on level 83 with no sign of stopping. Under normal circumstances, Romeo would've been fine with that. He liked watching her eyes narrow and her brow scrunch up in what he thought was the cutest way whenever she was decimating opponents, real or digital. But unfortunately, right now they had their "usual bet" going.

"Loser's buying the winner lunch, right?" Chelia laughed, and Romeo nodded. " _Good_." She leaned in.

Romeo gulped. He didn't know how, but he knew the girl was able to eat twice her own weight in food. He wasn't even sure where it went! His guess was to the two new bumps on her chest that have been the bane of his existence for the last couple of months. So while feeding her may not go without perks, it'll still cost him an arm and a leg.

"You know, I'm really liking this game. Maybe we can play it again sometime," she mused happily, knowing victory was all but certain. But alas, sweaty palms, weak knees, and heavy arms would say otherwise as her hand slipped from the joystick. She watched in horror as Snacc-boi was gobbled up by the multi-colored specters. The "Game Over" screen flashed before her eyes:

**_"Hnnnnggghhh, Player. I tried to collect the pellets, but I'm dummy thicc, and the clap of my pixels alerted the Phantoms."_ **

The young tweens cringed.

"...Or not..."

* * *

**Chapter 3: Gravity**

When the static faded, Romeo found himself standing in the Academy's sparring grounds. It was nighttime, but still pretty hot out, meaning he was likely sometime in the summer of last year. And if he really _was_ a year in the past, that would mean he's passing through his memories a lot faster.

_'Good,'_ the boy thought, _'The sooner we're done with this, the better.'_ He looked around the immediate area. His past self had yet to arrive, but would undoubtedly be here soon. He was beginning to doubt his previous theory about these memories being random, but as far as he could tell, this memory wasn't significant in the slightest.

Hell, he wasn't even _there_ yet.

Though that did beg the question, where was his past self? Some of the previous memories he viewed did set him a short distance away from his past version, but they'd always get to him eventually. Here, though, it's been at least a few minutes, yet he didn't see himself _anywhere!_

Romeo surveyed the land again.

He was in the empty sparring grounds. There was still plenty of wear and tear on them from their use in the previous day, so that meant the night crews had yet to fix them up for tomorrow. That would place him somewhere before midnight.

Another sign it was before midnight was how the lights were still on in the dormitories a short distance away from him. Though then again, that didn't really mean shit. Despite it being a set rule that students had to be in bed with their lights out by midnight, people rarely ever followed it. He himself had spent many nights staying up to party and hang out with his peers, reveling in the joys of being young.

… Actually, that was complete bullshit. First off, Romeo had no clue what the "joys of being young" even fucking meant, since he spent most of his days being stressed about everything. Secondly, he only had about three friends here, one of whom being his roommate, who should hardly count. Thirdly, before he started working on the Eclipse Gate, he'd spend his nights watching full seasons of anime or TV shows his friends recommended to him. And finally, the most "adventurous" thing he ever did at night was have Chelia in his room, and that was solely by virtue of her being a girl. Yet even then, all they'd do was watch movies or anime with their other friends, so it really wasn't all that "adventurous."

Romeo stared longingly at the dorms. Why did he stop having those movie nights? The boy supposed it was because he stopped inviting people. Chelia had to pick up the slack while he went off to work on the Eclipse Gate.

The boy shook his head. Now was not the time to think about the past, at least not _that_ part of it. His journey was far from done, and he was honestly starting to get bored waiting for that weird static to come back and take him to something actually _interesting._

Romeo snapped his head around to the sound of a door opening. There he saw Promeo and Chelia walking out into the night, standing awfully close to one another. Had they always been that close? And they were laughing at something. When was the last time he heard her laugh? When was the last time _he_ laughed?

He shook his head. Once again, he wasn't focusing on the right things. It didn't matter what the answer was, so long as the outcome was him getting to x784. If he could just accomplish that, nothing else will matter.

Still, there was just _something_ about this night that didn't sit right with him.

"So, what did you want to show me?"

The time traveler's face fell, his eyes widening like dinner plates. He stared up at the clear skies and full moon.

He now knew _precisely_ which night this was.

And it only made him hate his theory about this all relating to Chelia even more.

Promeo shifted around uncomfortably. He scratched the back of his neck as he said, "Well, I've got this new spell I wanted to try out. And I figured..." A light blush dusted across his cheeks. "... I figured you might like to see it, too."

" _Ohhh,_ I get it!" Chelia snapped her fingers. She then lifted up her fists as she got into a fighting stance. Her magic flared up, creating deadly winds that veiled just as dangerous blue eyes. "You want to spar."

"Eh?!" Promeo shook his head, rapidly waving his hands in the air. "No, no, no. That's not his." He took a deep breath. "This isn't exactly… the type of spell meant for battle."

The wind mage cocked her head to the side, dispelling her magic. "Then what kind of spell is it?"

Promeo gulped. "It's…" He paused, looking at the girl's cute, confused face. He hoped he was doing this right. Sure, there were no grassy meadows or clear blue lakes, but he at least had the moonlit night, and those are romantic, right? He was pretty sure they were.

_'Oh come on!'_ he mentally berated himself, _'She must've shown you at least a hundred cheesy romance movies! How'd you not pay attention to any of them?!"_ He glanced at the crystal blue eyes, still looking at him.

_'Oh… right.'_

"It's better if you just see it," he finally got out.

Chelia was confused for a moment, but then understanding twinkled in her eyes. She nodded, taking a step back and trying to hide her smile.

Taking a few steps forward onto the sparring grounds, Promeo prepared himself. ' _Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in…'_ He closed his eyes, stacking his hands palms-up close to his chest. Multiple small magic circles of various colors appeared all around the two young teens.

_'Deep breath out.'_

One by one, each magic circle volleyed a different colored fireball into the air. Chelia watched the small comets fly higher and higher until _BOOM!_ They each burst apart into a brilliant blaze of colors. All of her favorites, purples, pinks, reds, blues, greens, all of them lit up the night sky.

"Romeo… that's _incredible_ ," she gasped.

Promeo pried one eye open to look at her. Perfect amaranth hair that had been let loose from their usual cute pigtails swayed gently in the breeze. Tempting pink lips were left agape in awe of the makeshift fireworks. And her eyes, her crystalline blue eyes that he watched voraciously devour anything and everything with curiosity, with the desire to be the strongest mage she can be, were left awestruck by something _he_ did.

The boy couldn't help but feel a sense of pride swelling within him. A smile played at his lips. He wanted to be able to make her look like that every day. But first, Promeo knew that there was a question to be asked.

Romeo cringed, covering his face with his hands despite no one actually being able to see him. He knew exactly how this would turn out, and hoped the static would take him before then.

Promeo smiled. Keeping up the fireworks show, he turned to face her. "Chelia," he called to her, drawing her attention, "Would you-"

_KABOOM!_

Everything moved in slow motion for the boy as a flash of jade erupted behind him. He watched Chelia's face contort into fear as he was steadily distanced from her. She tried to reach out to him, but it was no use. He couldn't catch her hand in time; gravity had already pulled him away from her. Dirt walls rose all around him. The girl of his dreams quickly became a speck in his tunneled vision.

His brain quickly jumped into action. He flipped himself around and pointed a **_Purple Flare_** at the ground.

**_"Purple Flare: Bubble!"_ **

A fireball launched from his left hand, gradually expanding as it sped towards the dirt. By the time it, and he, hit the ground, it had already become the size of a small bean-bag chair, saving Promeo from the otherwise deadly fall.

The boy sighed in relief, a few strange chuckles escaping his throat. Lifting himself off the vanishing fire bubble, he brushed himself off and took a look around where he was. It was a cave, yes, but how far it went was hard to tell. Even after igniting a small flare in his hands, he could still only see a small part of the seemingly enormous caverns.

He looked to the faint light shining above him. There he found the hole he ended up falling through...

The hole _he_ created in the _campus' sparring grounds..._

_Shit._

"Oh gods!" Promeo panicked, his feet pacing rapidly against the stone floor. His hands assaulted his skull as he freaked out. "No, no! There's no way they can kick me out for this, right?! This is what the sparring grounds are for!" He waved his hands out in front of him. "It's just a little wear-and-tear, is all! Nothing that can't be fixed…" Sweat dripped down his face. A hollow sigh escaped his lips.

And all the while, he hadn't realized that someone had been calling his name.

"-meo! Romeo! Can you hear me! Are you okay?!"

Promeo lifted his head towards the source of the voice. Leaning over the edge of the hole was Chelia with an incredibly frightened look on her face. Did he really not notice how worried she was? And did he really worry her that much?

Romeo wondered the same things.

Promeo lightly slapped both of his cheeks. Whatever consequences he'd be facing from this can be worried about later. "Yeah, I'm okay!" he shouted back. "I managed to break my fall, but-" He took a quick look around. "-I seem to be stuck down here."

Chelia sighed in relief, placing a hand on her chest. She was happy to know the boy was okay, but she was still concerned about what's going to happen to him.

"Hold still!" Chelia called down, "I'm coming to get you!"

"You'll get stuck, too!" Promeo called back.

"No, I won't!" Chelia asserted, "I've been practicing gliding, remember!"

Promeo nodded. "Yeah! But you said it doesn't work well in small spaces!"

The sky mage glared at him. "Well, it can make an exception here!"

"Chelia, listen!" Promeo pleaded, "It's no use if both of us get stuck here! We'll just end up having to wait for the night crew, and they won't be here for a few hours!"

Chelia giggled. "Aww, what's so wrong with that?" she asked with an innocent smile both Romeos knew was far from innocent, "You mean you _don't_ want to spend a few hours _all alone_ with me?" To further tease the boy, she leaned further over the hole and held her hands behind her back, hoping to make her _assets_ visibly even from deep within the cave. Promeo couldn't really see it (though he knew what she was doing), but Romeo was undoubtedly enjoying the view.

A heavy coat of red covered Promeo's face. "I-I uh…" He considered it for a moment. "Y-yes!" he stuttered, looking away from her and crossing his arms sternly, a heavy contrast from the pink still on his cheeks, "Y-You being down here would only waste our time, and I'm sure it would only hurt us in the long run… somehow..." he finished lamely.

"Oh, I don't know." The wind mage put a finger to her cheek. "I'm sure I'd use my time down there _very well."_

Promeo groaned. "Ch-Chelia!"

She laughed. "Alright, fine." She rolled her eyes. "You know, you're cute when you blush."

"You can't see me blushing!" Promeo shouted, "You're not a Slayer! You don't have enhanced vision!"

"No," Chelia admitted, "But I can imagine. Besides…" she grinned, "You just admitted that you're blushing."

Promeo smacked his head. He supposed this was the reason he was the _second_ greatest mind the Academy had to offer. "I-I did not!" he yelled.

Chelia rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Whatever."

"Just go get a rope," Promeo pleaded, "There should be one in the gym's supply closet."

"Alright," she sighed, turning around and walking towards the school's gymnasium.

"And try not to get caught!"

She laughed. " _Please!_ Unlike you, _I_ actually know how to be stealthy! I'll be back shortly, _love_. _"_ And with that, she sped off, black wind trailing behind her.

Promeo shook his head, smiling. He knew it wouldn't take her long to _find_ the gym's supply closet, but breaking into it was another thing entirely. He knew she wouldn't just brute force it open, even if she really wanted to. Despite being the two smartest minds the school had to offer, their enrollment in the Academy was still on some pretty shaky ground. Committing property damage certainly wouldn't help matters.

Still, if he was going to be down here for a while, he might as well explore. The cave system seemed to go on a ways in just about every direction, possibly spanning under all of _Crocus_. Trying to explore all of it would be a fool's errand. He might end up lost for days, maybe _weeks_ , if he went too far in.

But at the same time, there was a little voice in his head telling him to just _do it._ He blew his confession just to end up here, he might as well find out _why._ But he knew it'd take an incredibly scientific method in order to know where to start.

"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe…"

Romeo put a hand to his temple. He'd forgotten just how much the breakthrough of the millennia had been based entirely on dumb luck. Emphasis on _dumb._

_'But I am still here,'_ the time-traveler thought, staring down at his former self, _'There must be a reason for it. None of the other things I was shown lasted this long. Maybe I should see this out to the end?'_ He looked down into the deep caverns below. A grin formed on his face. _'As they say, "When in Bellum."'_

He tossed a **_Purple Flare: Bubble_** down the hole, then quickly followed after it. The boy didn't know if he actually needed it, but it definitely wouldn't hurt. Plus, it would suck to die halfway through time-traveling.

By the time he got down there, his past self had finally made up his mind. Romeo watched as his younger iteration tie one end of a **_Purple Flare: Rope_** around a stalagmite, then the other end around himself. He then followed the younger him deeper into the cavern.

Knowing the moonlight would quickly fade the deeper he went in, Promeo lit up a fireball in his left hand. It was only then that he realized how strange the "caves" he was in really were.

First off, they definitely weren't natural caves. The tunnels were rectangular, and their walls were seemingly made of bricks. Small plaques and picture frames were littered about, far too old to actually be legible. Candle holders poked out of the walls.

Promeo realized he must be walking in some ancient hallway. And despite the extremely old age, it looked a lot like the hallways in his old school. He wasn't sure if that meant this school was incredibly modern, or if his old school was just in desperate need of an update. He hoped it was the former, but his experiences at the establishment told him it was the latter.

_'Definitely the latter,'_ Romeo thought.

Still, both Romeos knew that wasn't the question they should be asking at the moment.

_'If this is a school, which school is it?'_ Promeo questioned, _'And what's it doing beneath mine?'_ The boy didn't think he'd heard any stories or news reports about a sunken school beneath his own. Not to mention that Fiore Royal Academy is at least a few hundred years old at this point, so whatever school this is must be older than that.

The boy spotted a sign broken in two on the floor. Thankfully it was made of stone, so the words engraved into it were still legible. The first piece read, _"Mildi,"_ while the second read _"an Academy."_

"Mildian Academy?" Promeo asked the air. _'"Mildian?" Like that old, lost civilization that supposedly worshipped some time god? I thought that place was just a myth. No one ever found out where it was…"_

His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Unless _I_ just did!" he screamed out. Promeo then broke out into a small, uncoordinated dance in the middle of the ancient ruins.

Romeo cringed, turning his head away and placing a hand in front of his eyes. _'Gods, this was what I was like?'_ He now remembered why he never liked looking at old photos of himself; it was because if he ever met a past version of himself, he'd only be able to spend so many minutes with him before pushing him down the stairs. Seriously, how does _this_ idiot build a time machine? How did _this_ absolute disaster get not just any girl, but _Chelia FUCKING Blendy,_ to fall for him?

The boy peeked out of his hands to see his past self still dancing. "Hey, idiot! You're about to find the secrets of time travel, stop fucking dancing," he called out, not expecting his past version to hear him.

Yet he did. Or at least, he jumped at his voice, not necessarily hearing the words and just being startled by the noise. "Chelia? Was that you?" he called but got no response. Promeo stopped dancing and swiveled his head around the caves like a meerkat popping out of its hole. For a second, he even looked directly in Romeo's direction, holding his gaze there for an uncomfortably long period of time. Romeo almost thought he'd been seen. But then Promeo shook his head, placing a hand to his chest and sighing out.

Promeo lifted his flame back up into the air. After one final glance behind him to make sure nothing was there (there was someone, he just couldn't see him), he kept going into the cavern.

The two Romeos kept going for several minutes. Most of the school was pretty dull, looking somewhat similar to their own school. Many of the rooms had been caved in, meaning that despite being a probably sizable establishment back in its day, Mildian Academy didn't have shit worth exploring in the modern era.

Eventually, they both made it to what appeared to be the school's dorms. Like with the school itself, many of the old rooms had been claimed by time and the earth. It took a while for them to finally come to a place that hadn't been turned to rubble.

But when Promeo did finally find a room that wasn't buried, he knew it was something special.

It looked like a pretty standard dorm room. There was only one bed, so whoever was here didn't have any roommate. Papers littered the walls, but they were all too faded to read. The desk in the corner still looked to be in good condition, though.

Romeo watched with bated breath as Promeo moved toward the desk. This was the moment when everything changed for him; this was the moment he'd discover Zeref's notes. He wanted to see it one more time.

He watched with rapt attention as his former self opened up the desk drawer. This was it. The beginning of everything.

But something was wrong.

Promeo didn't seem to care much about the drawer he opened. He simply closed it and moved on to the one below, then the one below that one. There was nothing on his face to indicate the discovery of _anything_ within those drawers.

Though perhaps Romeo was just misremembering which drawer he found the research notes in? The ones Promeo was searching through all had some wear-and-tear and were unlikely to keep Zeref's research in the near-immaculate condition he'd found them in.

But he could've sworn he found them in that top-left drawer…? It was where he kept them since, after all. Though then again, he was primarily left-handed, so maybe it was just easier for him to grab them there? And he actually moved the notes from where he first found them?

Come to think about it, a lot about this memory was pretty fuzzy. Romeo could easily remember everything that came before: the botched confession, destroying the sparring grounds, discovering Mildian Academy… but after that, nothing. Everything after this was a blur to him. He knows he finds the notes, he knows he'll make it back up to the surface, and he knows that the hole will get filled in.

But _how? How_ did he find the notes? _How_ did he get out of here? _How_ was the hole closed up? His head ached from trying to dredge up the memory.

A chill ran up his spine. The boy looked up to see Promeo staring at something. Following his past self's line of sight, he found… _something_.

It was humanoid. Approximately the height and build of a male in their upper teens, maybe early twenties. That much was for sure; the rest of it wasn't.

_Literally._

It was like Romeo's brain was trying to decide whether or not the being in front of him actually existed. The entity was a human-shaped hole in the fabric of reality. A living paradox: colorful but colorless; heavy but weightless; alive but not; already dying and yet to be born.

Romeo wasn't sure how his past self could look at it. Not only did it hurt his head, but it also made his breaths short and raspy. His fists clenched, and his brow creased. His heart raced a million miles a minute. Red filled his face and vision. There was something about the entity in front of him that filled the boy with a sensation so familiar to him… not quite anger…

… But an unrelenting _hatred._

Something that might've been a chuckle emanated from the creature.

Its voice was distorted, but for some reason, Romeo couldn't help but feel it was _familiar_ somehow. He watched the being turn its head, seemingly having sensed the negativity emerging from the boy. The boy took up an offensive stance as he prepared to fight the thing in front of him and save his past self.

Alas, he wouldn't even get the opportunity. The being lifted its hand, and the static swarmed Romeo like it was being commanded to do so.

The boy felt his body become heavy and lethargic. Romeo knew that being was forcing him out of this memory and into a different piece of his past. He tried to hold on, but he didn't know what to hold on to. All he could do was struggle as the static swallowed him whole.

The boy felt himself drowning in darkness. He floated infinitely in a void of black, or maybe white, or maybe something that didn't possess color. His mind started to slip away from him, this nothingness being a far cry from the brilliant Ravines he'd seen earlier.

When the void finally released its grip, Romeo found himself in the Academy's hallways. Fellow students surrounded him, rummaging through their lockers and rushing off to the classes they were already late for. Some announcement was going off about what was being served in the cafeteria that day. Fish and chips, maybe, or just a bunch of nonsense and mumbles.

But Romeo was dead to all of it. He laid lifeless on the floor as he questioned what the _hell_ just happened to him. That had been far too different from the other statics he felt, to the point where it might've been something else entirely. It had definitely been the work of that creature.

_'No,'_ the boy thought, _'Not "creature." It was too intelligent. It could speak. It could_ ** _manipulate_** _this space.'_ His fingernails rapidly _tap-tap-tapped_ against ugly patterned tiles. _'And it was humanoid, too. A god, maybe? The thing the Mildians called "Chronos?" Does it not like how I'm trying to change the timeline?'_

Romeo shook his head. _'No. If it wanted me gone, it would've sent me away. I know it had the power to force me from the Ravines.'_ Black eyes darted around the halls. _'Yet I'm still here. This is definitely still the past. It's daytime, and we haven't had fish in the cafeteria for weeks.'_ His eyes landed on a calendar. _'... And that says it's March 21, x789.'_ He chuckled awkwardly.

Slowly, he lifted himself off the floor. Most of the people around him had gone to class by now, leaving only a few random stragglers. _'Freshmen.'_ Romeo rolled his eyes.

Then he froze. His eyes returned to the calendar. _'Wait… March 21…_ ** _x789_** _? But wouldn't this be…?'_

" _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"_ a young boy whisper-yelled as he raced through the halls. An overstuffed backpack dragged behind him, and his arms were filled with enough textbooks to equal half his body weight (so two). Legs haphazardly tripped over one another to create the general idea of running, all before the poorly distributed weight caused him to wipe out and face plant onto the hard tile.

Romeo cringed at the sight. Not only because he felt bad about what happened to the poor kid, but also because he recognized the kid's dark purple hair, and knew what happened next.

It was another fucking _Chelia_ memory.

"Wow, Romeo. First day and you're already late to class," called the voice of a pompous asshat. Out walked a well-dressed boy with a pair of lackeys behind him, because of course he had fucking lackeys.

Promeo pushed himself off the floor, only to be kicked back onto it.

The asshat smirked. "It's hard to believe that such a prestigious school would have such rats in it. First that little Isvanian harlot, and now _you_."

Romeo glared at him. _'That 'harlot' is about to kick your fucking ass, you rotten son of a…'_

Promeo forced his head up to get a good look at his assailant. Judging from the fancy suit and the dickish way of speaking, he guessed that the boy must've been the son of a wealthy noble. But not just any wealthy noble, of course, but Korpar Ight, owner of the most successful lacrima mines on the continent and one of the school's major funders as of two years ago.

Around the time his son, Parys Ight, joined the Academy.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not here because my dad bought my way in here," Promeo groaned.

The senior scowled. The older mage then picked the freshmen up with two hands and forced him against a locker. Red eyes glowed menacingly as he inflicted what felt like thousands upon thousands of mosquito bites upon Promeo, feeling the boy's strength being sapped into him.

"And at least _my_ dad isn't some pathetic _whelp_ running a third-rate bar he calls a guild!" the rich boy growled.

"No," Promeo choked out, holding his neck. His skin was getting paler, and his veins glowed red as Parys's magic invaded them. " _No_ … he just… steals his worker earnings… and uses them… to jack himself off…"

Parys glared, slamming Promeo against the locker once again. "I am the son of the wealthiest man in Fiore, nephew of the 2nd Wizard Saint, and a suitor of Princess Hisui! I **demand** ** _respect!_** **"**

Promeo was gasping for air at this point. The light was fading, and his body was going numb. He wished he could just burn the motherfucker, but school rules prevented him from using any offensive magic within the hallways. Not to mention how bad attacking one of the wealthiest people in Fiore would look for him and his guild. These could very well be his last words; he had to choose them carefully:

"...Respect… my… ass…"

"Hey!" a new voice called, "Let him go!"

Romeo smirked. He leaned up against a locker to watch this unfold.

Heels stomped angrily towards the bullies. Swirls of wind began forming throughout the halls.

Parys threw Promeo to the floor with all the care of a man throwing away his trash. "Ah, the Isvanian Whore. We were just talking about you," he taunted, "Are you lost as well?"

" _Maybe_ ," Chelia mumbled, then yelled, "But that's not the point!" She pointed at them, eyes like a raging hurricane as the air in the hallway seemed to thin. She noted how Parys's magic seemed to leave Promeo's body as soon as he was released. "Get away from him or _else_."

"Or else _what?_ " the rich prick asked, "Are you going to seduce me as you did Jura? It's what you Isvanian girls are _famous_ for, after all. Not to mention the only reason _anyone_ would ever let you in an establishment like this."

_"Hm?"_ The wind mage piped her head up in a way that _begged_ for him to say it again. "I'm sorry, what was that?" she growled, "I'm not sure I heard you correctly." She continued on stomping towards the noble, tossing her backpack to the side as her steps made small cracks in the floor.

"You see, I made it into this school with a little thing called ' _talent_.'" She continued to rant. The winds around her continued to become more enraged as she got closer to Parys. "Talent that yes, Jura happened to recognize. But don't you think for a _second_ that I didn't work for all on my own. I struggled each day to become a mage who could protect others, who fights for love, and who my cousin could be proud of!"'

Her fists clenched. She was quickly closing in on Parys with no sign of stopping. "Of course, I doubt you'd know anything about _'struggling.'_ You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and a bajillion jewels shoved up your ass! But if you want me to give you a demonstration on it…" She stood directly in front of Parys, forcing him to take a step back. A sinister smile bisected her face. "I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"Alright." Parys shrugged, combing back his hair with closed eyes. "You wish to see 'struggling?' Very well." Eyes glowing like rubies locked on to Chelia, laser-focused on their target as the noble felt every muscle in his body becoming energized.

Chelia, meanwhile, was starting to feel considerably weaker. Pain coursed through her body. Her legs turned to jelly and her arms into noodles. Keeping her head up was a struggle in itself. Thankfully she could still feel her Wind Magic just fine and was using it to push herself up, but it was a losing battle against her waning physical strength. Soon gravity claimed her, and she collapsed onto her knees.

Parys smirked. "Good. Just as you belong." Keeping his eyes trained on her, he stepped over to the kneeling girl. Two fingers caressed her chin as he propped her face up towards him, but Chelia fought them and kept her head down.

"Hey, eyes up here," the rich boy growled, "You see? Even with all your struggling, you're no match for me. Really you should be thankful we're in a public establishment, or who knows how much _trouble-_ " He chuckled maliciously. "-you would've been in." Seeing that Chelia still wasn't looking at him, he groaned, failing to notice the sound of air being sucked in.

Parys groaned. "Hey!" he yelled, grabbing her chin and yanking her face upwards as he leaned down. "Look at me!"

And she did. Scathing eyes stabbed into the noble so hard that Parys almost blinked. Puffed up cheeks released a jet stream of hot air into his face, making him stumble backward and drying out his eyes.

Chelia felt her strength return to her. Her hypothesis had been correct: his magic works only when he's looking at you. Without wasting a second, she leaped up and grabbed him by the torso, lifting him up and flipping him backward onto the ground.

Promeo started to wake up as this was happening, and his jaw was left gaping at what just happened.

Of course, Romeo knew she was far from done.

Chelia grabbed the messed-up bow on the pigtail Parys grabbed and untied it. As the noble lifted himself off the ground, she snuck behind him and wrapped it around his eyes tightly in a constrictor-like blindfold.

Parys tried to peel the bow off to no avail. Chelia's cousin had splurged on her after she found out she made it into the Academy, so now the young girl owned clothes that could take several direct hits from high-level magic spells without gaining so much as a tear.

The noble glared in the direction of his two lackeys. "Well? GET HER!"

The two of them nodded fearfully. One summoned orbs of solid light that floated around him while the other manifested several wooden spikes.

**_"Light Bomber!"_ **

**_"Wood Bullets!"_ **

Chelia thrust her hands in front of her. A wall of winds swirled around her, catching the two spells and pulling them into its vortex. She pulls her hands apart, separating the two spells into their own spheres of wind. Both hurtle around her body like planets orbiting the sun. With a devious smirk, she launches the one filled with wood;

Right at Parys.

_"GRAGHAHAHAGHJJH!"_ the noble yells. Chelia's wind had been dispersed before it hit him, but the tens of wood spikes certainly hit their mark. Several tiny points pierced his perfect skin and shredded his million jewel suit, leaving him in more than one type of agony. He finally yanked the bow off and activated his magic towards his companions.

Which is when Chelia launched the light at him.

_"Graahhhh!"_ Parys screamed. The light balls burst the second they made contact, charring Parys's retinae. He glanced a little to the left of his lackeys to see them petrified, then looked at where he though Chelia was and rushed at her.

"You _bitch!"_

But Chelia didn't move; she didn't need to. He missed his mark by about a foot, and she watched in amusement as he stumbled to the ground.

"You know, magic like yours out to be illegal," Chelia commented, "But then again, I suppose it's only dangerous in the hands of _competent_ people."

" _Grrhh_ , I'll have my dad expel you!" Parys raged.

"With what evidence?" Chelia questioned. "The only offensive spells you were hit with were from those two idiots." She gestured to the two idiots.

"And as you so kindly pointed out earlier, I know Jura. Who I know knows you're uncle." She rubbed her chin, glancing upwards in mock thought. "Now, how do you think your uncle would take it if he learned that _you_ forced an innocent maiden onto her knees and threatened to do unspeakable acts to her?"

Parys gulped. Somehow his skin became even paler.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Chelia gloated, taking a few steps towards him and leaning down to be right next to his ear. She whispered, "Besides, do you _really_ want the whole school to find out you got your ass handed to you by not just a freshman, but the _'Isvanian Whore?'"_

At this point, the noble was shaking. He stood up, brushed himself off, and began running as far from the girl as he could.

Chelia glanced at his lackeys. "Well?" She narrowed her eyes. _"Run."_

And boy, did they ever.

The wind mage gave herself a moment to admire her work before addressing the slack-jawed boy on the ground. She extended her hand to him.

Promeo was wordless throughout the whole exchange. His body took Chelia's hand while his mind took a backseat to admire the person in front of him. He simply let the girl pick him up off the ground, the only noises coming from him being small groans of pain.

"You're hurt," she stated. Concern lit up in bright sapphires that Promeo couldn't help getting lost in. But without regard for the boy experiencing 'love at first sight' for the first time, Chelia slung his arm over her shoulder while wrapping hers around his chest to hold him up, causing both of them to blush slightly. She was surprised to feel the presence of abs beneath his school uniform, and upon a second glance, she realized the boy she was carrying was actually pretty handsome. However, she banished such thoughts. She was determined to stay loyal to her Lyon-sama.

She pulled her eyes away from him, a light coat of pink on her cheeks. "C'mon, let's get you to the nurse."

"Mm," Promeo nodded dumbly, still too stunned to say anything. The way Chelia carried him through the halls was a little rough. He could feel his aches flaring up from where Parys kicked him as she went to collect both of their backpacks. Luckily the school nurse wasn't _too_ too far away, so he'll be able to get some aid soon enough.

"Jeez, that jackass really beat you up, didn't he?" Chelia giggled, causing Promeo to groan.

"Sorry. It's just that he was kinda a pushover. And I'm guessing you made it here on your own merit since you don't look all that rich."

Promeo huffed. "Gee, thanks," he finally spoke.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was that you probably could've beaten him up yourself."

"Yeah, well, not everyone has a Wizard Saint to help them."

Chelia glared. "He's not _helping_ me. He just got me the chance to take the entrance exams. _I_ was the one who earned my way here."

"I never said you weren't. That display proved you're more than capable of doing so," Promeo explained, "I was just talking about how he'd help you tattle on Parys."

"Oh." Chelia blushed.

The two continued on in uncomfortable silence for a few moments, with the only noise between them being an occasional gasp of pain.

"Hey, uh," Promeo started slowly, "Not that I don't appreciate it, but why did you save me?"

"For LOVE!" Chelia answered, confusing the boy. "Hurting people who can't protect themselves goes against love, so I had to step in."

The boy nodded. A few more minutes of silence went by.

"I could've kicked his ass if I wanted to," Promeo stated.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh."

"I could've!" He threw his free hand up. "I just didn't want to blow my scholarship on the first day! Plus, I could've gotten my guild in trouble, too."

Chelia stopped, raising an eyebrow. "Scholarship? Guild?" she questioned aloud as she put the pieces together, "Wait… are you Romeo? From Fairy Tail? My cousin told me about you."

"Yeah." Promeo nodded. "And guessing from the _'Isvanian…'"_ He froze as the wind mage glared at him. "...the bad nickname Parys gave you, you're Chelia."

"That's right," she grinned haughtily, "And soon I'm going to be the greatest mage in the greatest guild in Fiore!"

"Isn't Lamia Scale currently only the second-best guild?" Promeo asked.

"Isn't Fairy Tail currently the worst?" she retorted.

"We're… facing some setbacks."

Chelia grinned. "Yeah, I can see that."

"Hey, I earned my way in here just as you did. And that was _without_ the help of a Wizard Saint." Promeo glared. "So, you know what? You and me. Sparring grounds. After class."

"You did see what I just did to those idiots, right?" she asked, but saw that Promeo's face was unwaveringly determined. "Alright." She grinned, surprisingly excited for a battle she knew she would win. "You're on."

Battle-hungry faces leaned just a bit too close to each other until Promeo remembered that he was in pain. He did a sharp inhale as the side of his chest throbbed.

"Ah, but first, can you continue taking me to the nurse?" he asked timidly.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Chelia blushed. She continued her march to the nurse's office.

Romeo watched with a smile as they disappeared down the hall. It'd come close, but ultimately, Chelia would end up winning that sparring match. But it'd be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The boy was so lost in thought that he hardly noticed the static taking him once again.

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

Romeo could feel that his journey was coming to an end.

Regardless of where or when he was, he knew he was in B.C. territory now. "B.C." of course standing for "Before Chelia," since, for better or worse, she had definitely been a turning point in his life.

That made him a little happy. He'd kissed that relationship goodbye long ago, so he was glad he got to see some of its better moments. And in a way, it made him realize he should be thankful to her. She was the reason he found the Eclipse Gate, after all.

'Though I suppose now I can throw away the idea of these memories being centered around her,' Romeo thought, shaking his head, 'Honestly, that idea was ridiculous to begin with."

But he supposed now was not the time to dwell on such things. He knew he only had a few more memories left to visit before reaching his final destination, so he may as well pay attention.

Once the static faded, he knew immediately when and where he was: x788, in the office of his favorite teacher from his old school.

He leaned up against the wall to observe.

Totomaru-sensei was behind his desk shuffling papers around. The desk itself was covered in various papers, knick-knacks, and books, built up seemingly to act as a wall between the teacher and the people sitting across from him. It had been a while since Romeo last saw him.

Sitting across from his teacher was an eleven-year-old Promeo. The younger version of him was fidgeting nervously in his chair, and he could understand why. Even from whatever ethereal-temporal-whatever-the-fuck plane of existence he was observing them from, he could still feel the tension in the air.

That tension coming from his father, who was sitting right next to Promeo. Romeo's heart sank a little as he looked at his dad, realizing it had been a long time since he even spoke to the man. Living in the dorms had made it all too easy to slip away from his home life and work on the Eclipse Gate.

Romeo watched as his father angrily tap-tap-tapped his foot against the wood floor, a signal telling him that he was in trouble for something, even if he didn't know what yet. His father crossed his arms around himself. Searing heat radiated off of him in the direction of the former Phantom Lord member.

Totomaru, however, appeared indifferent to that. Or at least he was doing his best to ignore it. However, the sweat on the man's brow and the fidgeting with his robe told Romeo that he was just as nervous about this as his younger self, something he didn't catch the first time around.

The fire magic teacher straightened out the papers and laid them on the desk. He cleared his throat. "Mr. Conbolt," he began shakily, "While I understand that there is a bit of… bad blood… between your guild and my former guild, I would like to promptly state that I have renounced all of my ties with Phantom Lord.

"This meeting is about your son, my student," he gulped, "Romeo."

At the mention of his name, Promeo's head piped up. He still wasn't sure why his teacher had called him and his father in here; he never told them.

"You see, Mr. Conbolt, Romeo's graduation is coming up," Totomaru stated, "as you may or… may not have known."

Macao threw a side-glare at Romeo.

"But regardless, Romeo is going to be graduating from our little institut pretty soon. Top of his class, might I add." The teacher did little to hide the proud grin on his face.

"Just get to the point already," Macao complained. It wasn't that he wasn't proud of his son's accomplishments; he very much was. It was that he was being told about these accomplishments from the mouth of a man who once tried to destroy his guild, along with the whole secret life his son had been living while he was going to school here. Though in retrospect, he probably should've wondered how his son had wound up getting so good at fire magic so fast.

Totomaru nodded. "Very well." He paused. "I didn't call you in here today simply to tell you that your child is doing well in his classes. Rather, I called you in to tell you he's doing exceptionally well."

The teacher stared straight into Macao's curious eyes. "Your son, Mr. Conbolt, has a talent and passion for magic that's hard to come by these days. It's the type of talent and passion that needs to be cultivated in an environment where they can truly shine. Normal magic academies won't cut it and, I'm sorry to say, your guild might not, either…"

All three of the present (or possibly past and future) Conbolts groaned at that.

"...Which is why I've sent a letter of recommendation for Romeo to Fiore Royal Magic Academy."

…

…

…

"What?" asked Macao.

"I said, 'I've sent a letter of recommendation for Romeo to Fiore Royal Magic Academy,'" Totomaru repeated.

Macao and Promeo, meanwhile, could only stare at the man with their mouths agape.

Romeo chuckled. Sure, being in the school for a while has taken away some of the excitement of it, but he'd still say that Fiore Royal Magic Academy is the best magic school in Fiore—maybe even all of Ishgar—hands down. Not only does the school itself teach the widest variety of learnable magics, but it also has the best teachers and the greatest treasure-trove of academic research on this side of the continent.

Unfortunately, most of these resources end up being wasted on the sons of rich snobs who couldn't tell a wand from a chopstick, but that's neither here nor there.

"Th-thank you, Sensei!" Promeo bowed his head. He moved so quickly that he nearly shook off his new orange scarf.

"Hold on a moment," Macao said, finally having collected himself, "How do I know this isn't some trick?" He glared at Totomaru.

But the teacher held up his hands and shook his head. "It's no trick. I'm honest when I tell you that I'm trying to turn over a new leaf." He looked over at the young boy in the chair. "And part of doing so involves trying to help the mages of tomorrow be better even better than those of today." He looked back at Macao. "Us adults are going to have to hand this world over to them, after all. Don't you think it'd be best to prepare these children the best we can before that happens?"

Romeo smiled at his teacher's words. He thought about the new Romeo who would eventually take his place when he was gone. What would he be like in a world where the S-Class group never left? Would he be kinder, not yet jaded by the harsh realities of the world? Would he be even better at magic, learning it from his idol personally?

Macao groaned, but mainly because he didn't like agreeing with the former Phantom. "Perhaps. But I'm still concerned about this whole thing."

Totomaru nodded. "That's understandable. But please, let me try to ease your fears. And don't let money concern you, either. I can assist you in getting a scholarship from the school, and if need be, I'll even pay out of my own pockets."

He put a hand over his heart. "I know you don't trust me. I know you don't like that your son has been sneaking off to my classes. But I'm begging you, do this for him." Pleading eyes stared down the elder Conbolt. "You know he has talent. You know that one day, he might even be able to surpass both of us."

For the umpteenth time, Macao groaned. Glancing over at Promeo, he asked, "Well, son? What do you think?"

Promeo lowered his head. In his vision, he could see his scarf dangling in front of his eyes. He clenched his fists, then lifted his head up. "I want to go. I want to be strong like you and Totomaru-sensei…" He paused, his eyes quickly darting to and away from his teacher before facing his father once again." ...and Natsu-nii."

Macao stared down at his son. Fiery eyes stared back at him that he had no hope of beating.

He lowered his head and sighed. "Alright, fine," he surrendered. He then turned his focus back onto the teacher. "But I'd still like to talk this out a bit more."

Totomaru smiled. "By all means."

And so, the three of them talked. Obviously it ended with Romeo getting into the Academy, but he still enjoyed watching over the conversation. He'd forgotten just what it took to get him there: all of the hours he spent training with Totomaru, learning all sorts of new tricks and spells to use with his Rainbow Fire; the many nights where he'd have to carefully ask his dad for help with his homework; the support the two of them gave when he was taking the entrance exams for the first time.

Once again, he was so caught up in his thoughts that he was able to slide contently back into the static. He didn't even realize he was standing up on a grassy hill until he heard the sound of a large stack of wood colliding with the dirt.

"Gods dammit!" a nine-year-old Promeo yelled. Romeo looked to see the boy splayed out on the grass surrounded by long wooden planks.

Romeo then looked further up the hill to see what kind of construction project his younger self was working on. And what he saw really took him back.

(Though he supposed he couldn't really be taken back since he was already there, in the time period he was being reminded of. But eh, semantics.)

He gazed up at the half-finished tavern. It was small, and basically only had the framework done. Warren was aiding Laki in construction on the eastern side of it. On the west was Droy and Max, who looked to be pulling up the final wall. Jet was running around everywhere, supplying everyone with tools and drinks. And dictating what everyone should be doing was Macao and his right-hand, Wakaba.

Romeo had forgotten about this. He remembered being so distraught when they lost their first guildhall, he didn't even pay attention to how everyone felt when constructing the new one. A heavy pit formed in his stomach. How could he not have noticed?

How could he not have noticed everyone smiling?

It really was a whole different time. Looking at this made him feel as though the Tenrou group never even left. Everyone was cracking jokes with one another, laughing and having a good time even as they worked away on what would soon be their new guild hall. He even saw many of the people who would later leave joining in on the festivity of it all. It was almost impossible to believe that these same people would later fall into despair, and that this same guild would fall into ruin.

Romeo's eyes rushed back to his younger self.

Sweat dripped down the boy's forehead, and heavy pants escaped his lips. He probably should've realized he was carrying far too many planks for him to handle on his own, but he wanted to prove that he didn't need help. He wanted to be the one helping everyone else.

However, against his wishes, Alzack and Bisca came to his aid.

"Romeo!" Alzack called, "Are you alright?"

"Rgh, yeah," Promeo groaned as he pushed himself off the ground. He had dirt all over his body, and his left knee was bleeding.

Bisca gasped, leaning down besides Promeo. "You scraped your knee." She licked her thumb and tenderly rubbed it on the wound, trying not to hurt the boy any more than she needed to. Her thumb had been able to clear away most of the dirt and blood, and she was glad to see it was only a minor wound.

She requipped her purse. The sniper mage purposefully rummaged through it, searching for something with the same eyes she used to search for enemies between crosshares. After a minute, she pulled out a bottle of disinfectant and some bandages. "This'll sting a little," she remarked as she sprayed the wound with the bottle.

Promeo hissed, his hands tearing up the grass. It was over quickly, and realistically it didn't even hurt all that much, but it still stung like hell. He felt as though he'd been stabbed in the knee with a knife covered in acid. But when he opened his eyes, the pain had already subsided, and he could see Bisca carefully putting a bandaid on his wounds.

"There you go." Bisca nodded. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Promeo crossed his arms and turned away. "No…"

"Romeo," Alzack spoke as he helped his wife up, "Maybe you should take a break for a minute. Bisca and I can carry this the rest of the way."

"Yeah, let us take care of it," Bisca pleaded, stretching out her hand towards the child.

The boy groaned. "Fine." He grabbed the gun mage's hand and was lifted off the ground. Groaning, he trudged awkwardly close to where his future self was standing and sat down.

The two Romeos watched in silence as the Connells picked up the wooden planks Promeo had dropped. The two of them were each carrying one end of the wood pile. Alzack was trying to convince his pregnant wife not to exert herself too much, but Bisca assured him she was fine.

The younger one sighed, turning his attention to the grass as he violently plucked it from the ground.

Romeo frowned. "Yeesh. I didn't think I got that messed up about dropping that wood." He glanced back at the Connells. "Hell, I can't even remember this moment for some reason."

He glanced at his younger self. Gently, he put a hand on the child's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright to take a break now. You worked pretty hard," Romeo spoke. He felt a little ridiculous since his past self couldn't hear him, but he couldn't just leave the younger him hanging. He wanted somebody to be there for him. "Just let Alzack and Bisca take care of this."

Promeo sighed. "Yeah, I suppose," he whispered to himself.

"Good!" Romeo nodded, taking his hand away.

…

…

...

"Wait." The time traveller's eyes widened as he stared at his past form. "Did you just… hear me?"

Romeo waited for a reaction from his past self. Clouds rolled by without a care in the world as the seconds passed. Butterflies floated above the flowers. The west winds blew in. All seemed still in the world.

Seeing that nothing would happen without him causing it, he started to move his hand back towards his past self. It hovered over Promeo's shoulder like an invisible force was keeping it from landing. It trekked cautiously downwards, until finally it hit the soft fabric of the boy's T-shirt.

"Romeo," Romeo literally said to himself, "Can you hear me?"

Promeo's head jumped up. "Nyhugh? What the-?" He looked around. "Warren? Are you screwing with me again?"

Romeo yanked his hand away. "Holy shit," he mumbled, astounded. It wasn't too soon before he became as giddy as a school girl. "I've got psychic ghost powers!"

He looked down at his hands. The sun and moon on his palms stared back at him. "It must only work if I'm touching him." He started rubbing his chin and pacing. "But wait, Promeo heard me in the Academy ruins, and I wasn't touching him then. But then that weird time-shadow-man was there, so maybe it was because of whatever power they have over the Ravines? Does that mean with more control over the Ravines, I can make it so people in the past can see and hear me? Could I even be able to affect the past myself?"

Before he could get any answers, the static started to roll in once again. Romeo reached out for his past self. "Don't worry about all this," he called out, "None of this matters. I'm going to fix it. Just wait for…"

Romeo slumped his shoulders. His left hand held nothing but air now.

"...me."

He wasn't sure if his past self was able to get his message, and didn't know if he ever would. Though he supposed he didn't need to, seeing as that past was soon to be erased, but he wanted to give his past self some comfort. It'd be a long time before he'd smile again.

But Romeo was going to change that.

Speaking of time, Romeo wondered when he was now.

The "where" he knew all too well.

He was in Hargeon Town by the piers. The sun burnt the sky into a brilliant orange as it sank below the ocean. That orange changed into a reddish-pink, which soon faded as the night crept in. A faint jade twinkle blinked into the horizon.

Staring out beyond the piers was Promeo. He was the youngest that Romeo had seen so far, but that made sense since he was going back in time. If the young teen had to guess, he'd say he was looking at his six-year-old self staring out into the ocean, eyes transfixed on the horizon.

He was alone.

'This is it,' Romeo thought. There were no clocks or calendars in sight, but he could feel it. He knew what time period he was in. 'This is the day I learned my friends...' Tears streamed down the boy's face. He felt pathetic when staring at his younger self, the one who was stone-faced staring into the open seas.

He couldn't understand why he was crying. He thought he'd gotten used to the idea of them being dead; it's why he didn't mind being erased. Yet that thought only brought more tears to his eyes.

Black onyxes peered out onto a distant shore. Across the ocean and a lifetime away was another Earthland, one that wasn't his. The tide rose up on his side of the waves, pulling more and more of the earth into its depths. Buildings crumbled and the piers sank. The skies themselves shattered like glass. Shards of the world crumbled into dust and soon enough, there was nothing. The sun submerged itself into the ocean, never again shining its light on this Earthland.

All that remained were the two Romeos, all alone with themselves above an endless sea.

Despite having no pier beneath his feet, Promeo still stood like there was ground below him. He turned around and faced his future self. A string of green light trailed from the center of his chest to the center of Romeo's.

The waves below Romeo's feet hardened into deep azure crystals. In them, he could see the friends he lost, Natsu-nii, Erza-nee, Gray-nii, Wendy-nee… all of them. All of them alive and well.

"Is this the future you want?" asked the one who was no longer Promeo. A voice new and ancient emerged from the boy's lips. His eyes burned like the first stars in creation. His very presence radiated a gravity like the end of the universe.

Romeo gulped. "Who are you?"

"Me? You're so familiar with me, yet you wish to know me?" Not-Promeo chuckled darkly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The time-traveller raised an eyebrow. "Are you the thing I saw before?"

The entity smirked. "Not quite. But don't worry, we'll get there. You just need to take the long way around. So first, answer my question…

"Is this the future you want?"

Romeo looked back down at the floor. Amongst the myriad of other things, he could see his family, alive and well. His father was smiling, his guild was thriving, and he looked happy.

Without hesitation or thought, he answered:

"Yes."

The entity's lips curled upward. "Very well."

The crystal below the entity's feel began to shatter. They leaned backwards and sank into the breaking stone, plummeting through the vortex of time.

The green tether that connected them both pulled on Romeo's chest. Romeo could feel himself being forced forward. His feet moved on their own towards the gaping chasm.

He tried to stop himself. He purposely tripped himself and fell to the floor, yet his body was still being dragged along. His hands reached to grab something, anything, but there was nothing in reach. One foot fell into the hole, then the other, then his legs, then his torso, then his whole body.

Next thing he knew, he was falling back towards Hargeon Town, in the year x784.


	5. Wendy's Plan Deleted Chapters

**Hello!**

**Alright, before we begin, let me just say that I'm sorry for my shitty update schedule, as well as thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed.**

**Hazel121617** , **I'm not entirely sure what you meant. I mean, maybe there was something confusing in the last chapter's A/N but, this story's not over. There's still much more to go.**

**Oceangirl07** , **glad you're enjoying the story! Hopefully This'll meet your expectations.**

**And finally, I'm introducing a new "character." Now, she's not really a physical character, more like a voice in Wendy's head that has definitely been present throughout the story and just simply hasn't been able to fully pull itself from Wendy's subconscious due to Wendy fighting back against it. I** **_definitely_ ** **didn't just make her up when I was writing this. Nope.**

**Anyways, she speaks like** " ** _this_** " **and thinks like** **'** ** _this_** ' **.** **Also she can be referred to as Wendy's "inner dragon."**

* * *

**Wendy POV;**

Ah life was good. Life was great even!

It turned out that my mate reciprocated my feelings! All that's left is to, you know, _mate_ with him, and life will be perfect!

Ah yes. But for now, I'll settle for a few semi-cheap dates. I do feel bad for not giving Romeo enough time to actually plan something, if I did I feel like it would've been much more romantic than my picnic idea. Or maybe it would've been a more thought out picnic in some beautiful grassy meadow or something?

But maybe I shouldn't judge the date before it actually happens. After all, we have yet to leave the dang _elevator!_ We're still waiting to get off because this building's so frickin' tall and the elevator's so frickin' slow! So we're basically trapped here all alone for another thirty floors!

Wait... We're all _**alone?**_

**3rd Person Pov**

Suddenly and without warning, "Wendy" had pushed Romeo to the side of the elevator, pressing his back against the wall, propping herself up by wrapping her legs around his waist. She then grabbed the boy's head, and pressed her lips against his, capturing him in a rather forceful kiss.

Meanwhile Romeo had been a little jarred by the situation. Wendy, the kindhearted and semi-innocent _**[1]**_ girl he grew to love, was now shoving him against an elevator wall and sticking her tongue down his throat! He wasn't sure if he should be afraid, or excited. But with the look Wendy gave him as she pulled away, he was _definitely_ leaning towards the latter. And were her eyes always pink?

"Wendy," Romeo breathed, "What's gotten into you?"

" _ **Oh nothing,"**_ she responded in a sultry voice, then put one of her hands down by his waist **_"At least, not yet."_**

Before Romeo could ask what exactly what she meant by "not yet," (He felt like he had a pretty good idea, he just didn't expect this type of thing from _Wendy!_ ) she went back to making out with him. This time Romeo was a bit more prepared though, and was actually able to kiss back. Not only that, but he was even able to take control of the kiss and swap places with Wendy so that she was against the wall. The ravenette had to hold her up a bit and the bluenette had to wrap her arms around his shoulders because of the height difference between the two.

For some reason Romeo felt the urge to bite her neck and take her then and there. He didn't understand where this sudden urge came from, but he tried to suppress it as much as possible. Thankfully the elevator door opened, revealing an elderly woman.

The two teens stopped kissing immediately, one blushing and one letting out an inhuman growl. (I think we can guess which did which.)

"Oh, I'll just take the next one," said the kind old woman, who allowed them to close the doors on her. Before they could fully close though, she shouted, "Use protection!"

After that the two completely separated. Romeo blushed even harder than before, and Wendy came back to her senses and blushed about as much as he was. The remainder of the elevator ride was spent in awkward silence.

Once they were out, they went and rented a magic four-wheeler to drive to the local farmers market. Romeo made sure it was one with a built-in anti-motion-sickness lacrima, though it did cost him quite a few jewels extra.

"I never knew you could drive one of these," Wendy commented, sitting in the passengers seat next to Romeo.

"Yeah, well, I took a few classes when I turned sixteen," Romeo explained, "Though, I knew I'd never be able to afford my own, especially since back then I was still saving up enough money to move out of my dad's place."

Wendy let out an impressed "Hm," and they continued on down the road.

She then looked out of her window, thinking about what exactly came over her back in the elevator. She knew it was mating season related, but wasn't sure _what_ had caused it. Perhaps it was because she was alone with her mate? But they're alone now, aren't they? So what's different?

_**'What's different is I don't want us to die in a car crash!'**_ a voice, similar to her own, shouted in the girl's head.

_'Eh?! Who's there?!'_

_**'Call me your "inner dragon.'** _

_'Are you the thing that made me act like..._ _**that** _ _?"_

_**'Yep. And I'll keep making you do those things until you and your mate finally frick-frack.'** _

_'Frick-frack? Really? Who even says that anymore?'_

_**'** _ _**You, apparently.'** _

_'Touche.'_

"Hey, um, Wen," Romeo interrupted her inner dialogue, "Would ya mind telling me what happened to you in the elevator?"

"Oh, um," she blushed, she really didn't want to explain just yet, "Well you know, I um... I felt like kissing you?"

_**'Wow... Totally convincing...'** _

_'Quiet!'_

"While I enjoy the enthusiasm, that seemed like a little more than a kiss," the boy joked. "C'mon Wen, you know you can tell me anything."

She frowned. "I know..."

There was a brief silence, until Romeo said, "Well, if you don't want to tell me now, I won't force you. Though I would like to know at some point, alright?"

"Alright," Wendy responded, still feeling a little guilty having to keep this secret.

They made it to the market not long after that.

"So, what should we get?" Wendy asked.

"Eh, well, I didn't really get to make any list so..." Romeo shrugged. "I guess we can just get anything we want."

"Anything?" asked the bluenette. "Be careful, I might just take you up on that offer."

The two then walked around the farmer's market for a while. It wasn't very eventful, the two simply walked around picking out whatever they thought would taste good. But then...

"Nyeheheh," someone maniacally laughed behind the duo. They both turned around to see a man, presumably one in his thirties, pointing a gun at one of the food stand attendees. He was wearing all black clothing, black short-sleeve shirt, black pants, black gloves, and a black mask. And he spoke with a cheesy accent you'd expect to hear from a villain in an old, black and white film.

"Gimme the money, see? Otherwise we're gonna have some problems, see?" the 'villain' said.

"Hey, stop that!" shouted Wendy, giving the would-be robber a glare that could rival Erza's.

"And why should I?" asked the masked man.

Romeo nodded at Wendy, and they turned their shoulders towards the man to show their Fairy Tail guild marks.

"Fairy Tail, eh?" the robber cackled, "I ain't scared of you!"

"Well, we warned him," Romeo sighed. Wendy then jumped into the air with a _**Sky Dragon's Talon**_ prepared to come down on him, while back on the ground Romeo was running at the man with a _**Purple Flare: Fist**_.

However, as Wendy's attack was about to hit the man, he disappeared. Thankfully she still managed to stick her landing, and Romeo was able to stop himself in time to avoid hitting her.

"Teleportation magic." Wendy stated.

"Hey what're the odds it's Mest this time?" Asked Romeo.

"Now don't say that," Wendy chided, "Mest might be a creep, but he's not a criminal."

"Pedophilia's a crime, Wen."

**_'He's got a point.'_ **

"You know, it's rude to talk about someone like that," sniveled the robber, who turned out to be right in front of them and to have lost his accent. "Uh, I mean, uh." He regained his accent and teleported right behind Wendy, grabbing her and sticking his gun to the side of her head. "Try anything and I'll kill her! See?"

Romeo however looked completely unfazed. "Alright, fine. I won't try."

"Haha! That's what I-" the robber became confused. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me," the purple haired male stated, "I won't try anything." He held up his hand and started spinning it gently. "I mean, not like I care that much." Romeo gave a quick wink to Wendy.

Wendy was confused, until she glanced behind her and saw the flames from the candles on a previous food stand getting larger. She immediately decided to play along.

"You bastard!" Wendy shouted, feigning tears and hating the fact she was calling her mate such a name. "And I trusted you! How could you just let me die!?"

_**'Play it down. sister.'** _

"I-I'll really kill her," the robber stammered, but went ignored.

"Baby, you already know of my reputation," Romeo said, doing a stereotypical "cool guy" voice. "Anybody who get's close to me always..." The flame mage thrust his hand back, and the flames from the candles shot at the robber's backside. "... get burned." Wendy giggled a little.

_**'When we get home, let's punch ourself in the face for thinking that pun was funny.'** _

As the man's back was being charred, Wendy took her chance to grab his gun and escape. Romeo then ran in and delivered a _**Red Flare: Fist**_ directly into the man's jaw, knocking him to the ground.

"H-how?" the robber gasped.

"Pyrokinesis, bitch," Romeo cockily laughed, then turned to Wendy.

"You're okay, right? You knew I wasn't really gonna leave you?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Wendy reassured him, "And don't worry, I knew you're plan the second I saw the candles."

Romeo sighed in relief. "Phew, thank gods. Not sure what I'd do if you ended up hating me."

Wendy kissed him on the cheek. "Don't be silly, I could never hate you." she smiled.

Romeo smiled too. "Thanks, Wen. Now, let's get..." They both turned their heads to the robber, only to see that he was gone.

* * *

_**Some Unknown Location** _

Carla stood atop a hill, scowling at the market (or more specifically, Romeo) bellow her.

The robber then appeared next to her. He removed his mask, revealing himself to be Mest Gryder. _**[2]**_

"I see you failed," said the white feline.

"Please, give me one more chance!" Mest begged. "Let me prove to you that I'm worthy of being Wendy's mate!"

"Sure, sure. Just do better next time."

"Can do!" Mest shouted, then teleported away.

"What a weirdo..." Carla sighed.

* * *

**A/N:**

**[1] No one can completely retain their innocence in Fairy Tail. Virgin or not.**

**[2] Wow what a surprising surprise.**

**Alright I'm sorry for the infrequent updates, though by now you may be used to it. However, I** **_am_ ** **trying do do something about it, but it may not take full effect for some time. But once it does then I might be able to have a semi-regular update schedule.**

**Also, I need a beta and/or betas, both for this story and some of my other stories. If you are interested, then please PM me and tell me which story or stories you would like to beta. Your options are:**

_**Wendy's Plan** _

_**Grand Phoenix of Fairy Tail** _

_**A Different Tail** _

_**Children of Chaos** _

_**Her Stupid Name** _

**(If there's a particular story you like that isn't here then I'm sorry but, it has been discontinued.)**

**Requirements are simple, just be able to give a critical review of whatever I send to you, and be able to correct any grammatical mistakes you may find. I would also suggest you know how to write or advise me in writing a fight scene, especially large-scale ones, as that is something I will most likely need help with in the future. Especially with** ** _Grand Phoenix, Children of Chaos,_ and** **_A Different Tail._**

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please bookmark if you enjoyed this story or want to see any other new stories I come up with, and please leave some kudos as well.
> 
> And please, definitely leave some comments. Feedback is the main thing I'm looking for with this endeavor. I want to know what you think of these stories, and I want to know if you think there's something I can improve on. If you don't leave a comment, then I will literally manifest my physical form inside of your house and lick a random object without telling you which one. 
> 
> So once again one final thank you for reading, and I hope to see you all next time!


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